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This week is National Road Safety Week (16-22 November), the UK’s biggest annual road safety event. As a FORS Silver Status transport company, TJ is highly invested in road safety and constantly aware of its importance. TJ has a strong focus on driver training and a commitment to cycle safety in the form of their Cycle Safe Campaign.
Road Safety Week aims to inspire schools, organisations and communities to take action on road safety and promote life-saving messages during the Week and beyond. It also provides a focal point for professionals working in road safety to boost awareness and engagement in their work.
Road Safety Week is coordinated by the charity Brake. Brake works to stop road deaths and injuries, support people affected by road crashes and campaign for safe and healthy mobility for all.
In October 2018, TJ gained the highly-regarded FORS silver status and they continue to maintain this exceptional standard. The FORS (Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme) silver accreditation is awarded to operators that maintain Bronze accreditation and have developed driver licensing verification systems. To further meet the strict criteria, vehicles over 3.5 tonnes must be equipped with a left-turn audible warning system and fitted with blind-spot minimisation devices.
TJ holds an annual training event during which drivers receive training to update their skills and learn new ones. There are also different training requirements that need to be met to satisfy different customers, such as holding a Passport Scheme competency card to enter sites or a Site Safety Awareness (MPQC) Card which also covers vulnerable road user training. Drivers must also complete 35 hours of periodic training every five years in order to be able to continue to drive commercially. That’s another one day per year dedicated to road and driver safety.
TJ’s fleet of lorries are frequent road users and all TJ’s drivers are advocates for cycle safety. As part of TJ’s commitment to managing work related road risk (WRRR), particularly regarding vulnerable road users such as cyclists, TJ created its Cycle Safe Campaign in 2016 to raise awareness and to reduce the HGV / cyclist dangers.
The initiatives implemented as part of the campaign are:
Since the introduction of the Cycle Safe campaign, TJ has won two awards. The first was a national award for leading the way with cycle safety. The accolade was awarded by CEMEX, a leader in the building materials industry.
TJ also won the Transport for London award for reducing occupational road risk for the company’s drivers and helping to make our roads safer. Criteria for the award included showing how technology, management systems and behavioural initiatives can reduce road accidents.
TJ’s Managing Director John Gosling said:
“This award means a lot to us, representing how we have overhauled our approach to driver training, with the clear aim of achieving a working environment free of accidents and ill health. Our online training portal has enabled the driver training to be consistent, interactive and trackable, as well as improving the ease of delivery of inductions, both internal and external, for our mobile workforce.”
Every year a different theme is chosen for Road Safety Week and this years’ is No Need to Speed. In a crash, 1mph can mean the difference between life and death, but even with that knowledge, people still regularly break speed limits or travel too fast for the road conditions.
The formula is simple: the higher the speed, the longer the stopping distance, the harder the crash and the greater the risk of death and injury. No Need to Speed is a reminder to everyone of how the speed they travel affects other people. Here’s how we can all get involved:
Find out more about TJ Transport and their commitment to road safety and driver training…
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