Arriva’s focus on safety brings rewards

Arriva's UK Bus division had its commitment to safety recognisedand rewarded at Brake's Road Safety Awards held in Manchesteryesterday (6 November). The company's achievements included sixshortlistings – and resulted in wins in two categories andbeing 'highly commended' in two others.

Lynne Beale, who oversees risk management for the whole ofArriva's UK Bus division was delighted by the success:

Arriva puts safety at the heart of everything we do andthese awards recognise and reward all the hard work put in by riskmanagers, inspectors, operations managers and, of course, Arriva'sbus drivers and engineers.

Road safety and risk management initiatives not onlybenefit Arriva through reducing the number and seriousness ofincidents our vehicles are involved in but also improve road safetyfor all other road users.

The winning entries were both from Arriva North West. KevinStorey was named as 'Risk Manager of the Year' for the efforts hemakes to ensure that bus drivers make the company aware of anysafety concerns on routes in Arriva North West's operating area andthat the company's safety procedures are always innovative andappropriate.

Arriva North West's work with employees, Transport and GeneralWorkers Union (TGWU) and partners such as Merseytunnels was also awinner in the 'Road Safety in the Community' Award – led by thedrivers themselves. The award recognises Arriva's pro-activeapproach to ensuring road safety – identifying accident hotspotsand working with the tunnel operators to draft guidelines for safertravel through the tunnels.

Arriva Southern Counties was named runner up in the CrashAnalysis Procedure Award for procedures where all incidents –however minor – are recorded and analysed to see whether anymedical or training intervention is needed.

Arriva's UK Bus division was the runner up in the Safe VehicleMaintenance Award for a CD-Rom indicating the importance of andprocedure for 'first-use inspection checks' – the checks which alldrivers perform before a bus leaves the garage for its firstjourney of the day.

Brake is a road safety charity dedicated to stopping deaths andinjuries on roads through awareness-raising campaigns andeducational resources.

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