PRAISE Awards recognise at work road safety achievements

The Annual PRAISE Awards for road safety at work were presented to Royal Dutch Shell and VolkerRail Ltd at a recent ceremony in Brussels.

PRAISE aims to increase road safety in the work context and reward best practice in order to help employers maintain high safety standards for their employees. Part of the programme is a competition which aims to inspire companies throughout Europe to tackle road safety at work.

Royal Dutch Shell – winner of the ‘large company’ category– employs around 90,000 people and more than 250,000 contractors in more than 90 countries. Shell improves the safety of its drivers by enforcing its global road safety standards, and through awareness programmes, training and minimising journeys.

VolkerRail, winner of the ‘small/medium company’ category, provides a wide range of contracting services to the railway industry in the UK and Ireland, and operates a mixed fleet of approximately 400 vehicles. VolkerRail has implemented a holistic approach to work-related driving and is committed to continual improvement, and intends to implement the new ISO 39001 Road Traffic Safety management system standard when it becomes available.

ETSC, which organises the PRAISE Awards, says that both companies take a ‘hearts and minds’ attitude to road safety, and recognise the need to engage with employees and take road safety message beyond the workplace.

Antonio Avenoso, ETSC executive director, said: “We congratulate the two winners of these prestigious awards for their inspiring efforts in tackling work related road risk.

“Royal Dutch Shell and VolkerRail are praised today because they demonstrate how improving road safety can be integrated into day-to-day business practices and that investing in road safety does indeed pay for itself.”

For more information contact Mircea Steriu on +32 (0)2 230.41.06.