This week is Road Safety Week (17-23 November). As a FORS Silver Status transport company and a responsible haulage provider, we’re committed to road safety. We’re constantly working to ensure compliance, we have a strong focus on driver training and we prioritise cycle safety through our 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 gives us the chance to remember people killed or injured on UK roads, and raise funds to help look after road victims and their families.
Road Safety Week is coordinated by the charity Brake. Brake works to stop crashes on our roads, reduce harm when a crash happens, and help every road victim get the support they need, for as long as they need it.
THEME FOR 2024: AFTER THE CRASH. EVERY ROAD VICTIM COUNTS.
Every year, more than 1700 people die on UK roads. Another 30,000 receive serious, life-changing injuries. The numbers are shocking, and there has been no significant reduction for more than a decade.
But road casualties are not just statistics. Behind every number is a family in turmoil. A grief-stricken family trying to navigate its way through the complex procedures that often follow a road crash. Behind every number is a family whose lives have been changed forever in an instant. A family that needs our help. This Road Safety Week, we are counting the real cost of road crashes. We are revealing the stories behind the numbers and calling for the very highest standard of care for every road victim.
FORS SILVER STATUS
In October 2018, TJ gained the highly-regarded FORS silver status and we continue to maintain this exceptional standard – 2024 marked our seventh consecutive year. 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.
DRIVER TRAINING
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 day per year dedicated to road and driver safety.
CYCLE 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:
AWARDS
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.
According to data released in September from the Department for Transport (DfT):
Find out more about TJ’s commitment to road safety and driver training and find out more about the services provided by TJ Waste and TJ Transport…
