Royal Award For BT’s Long Term Work-Related Motor Risk Management Programme

A Prince Michael International Road Safety Award was recently received by British Telecommunications (BT) in recognition of its industry leadership and on-going 10 year fleet risk management program, which has seen the company slash its collision numbers, rates and costs.

His Royal Highness, Prince Michael of Kent (pictured on the left of Dave Wallington) approved the recommendation of the Judging Panel that British Telecommunications should receive an award in recognition of its exemplary driver management programme.

The judges were extremely impressed by BT’s comprehensive, management-led programmes, policies, processes and procedures for people who drive on company business and the extension of the programme to include a wide range of employees and their families.

The award was announced and presented on 15 November 2011 at the BT-hosted European Transport Safety Council’s Preventing Road Accidents and Injuries for the Safety of Employees (PRAISE) conference in front of 150 attendees from a range of European businesses and government agencies.

Recognising the important part played by BT’s Unions, Dave Wallington, BT’s Group Safety Advisor told Unionsafety:

“We are delighted to have won this award for the 3rd time in recognition of the success delivered by our comprehensive and innovative road safety management system. Driving at work remains one of our most significant health and safety risks and equipping our people with the skill and systems necessary to travel safely remains a key priority for the company.

Stakeholders from across all lines of  business, the BT Unions and our suppliers have helped us deliver a world class solution to this difficult issue and we look forward to developing further improvements with them over the coming years”

Dave added:

"The award was given for a consistent and effective programme to reduce the number of collisions in the fleet and we have been able to demonstrate how our methods have had a material impact improving safety and cost control in this important and often unrecognised area of safety management."

Whilst there was no opportunity for acceptance speeches to be made at the award ceremony itself, Dave reminded Unionsafety that he took an alternative opportunity to highlight the need for the support of trade unions:

"During the PRAISE event I took part in a panel discussion on fleet risk management and one of the important issues I was at pains to highlight was the need for collaboration and engagement with all stakeholders especially with Worker representative groups to ensure we get the best out of the programme."

Despite its achievements, including halving its motor collisions and cutting its direct costs by approximately £12 million per year, BT is not standing still and for the next 12 months initiatives are in place to focus on extending its risk data-warehouse by adding further government and telemetry based data, as well as rolling out the programme to its increasing number of non-UK based people.

Source: Dave Wallington / virtualriskmanager.net

Designed, Hosted and Maintained by Union Safety Services