The Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network conducted a Best Practice Session on Road Safety as part of their ongoing “Be Responsible – Drive Safe” campaign in partnership with RTA and Roadsafetyuae.com with the objective of sharing best practices in road safety for commercial driving with the business community.
The Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network Road Safety Task Group consists of companies like Tristar Transport , Zafco FZCO & Zdegree, Majid Al Futtaim Properties, PepsiCo, ABB, SamTech Middle East, DP World , Intercoil, VOX Cinemas, Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group and The Blossom Nursery.
The session organised by Dubai Chamber ‘s Centre for Responsible Business with the objective to engage Dubai’s business community in assuming greater responsibility for the emirate’s social and environmental needs, aimed at raising awareness on road safety internally within the employees of the member companies and externally with other businesses to share best practices with like-minded companies.
The speakers at the session included Muhammed Akber, General Manager – HSEQ & Sustainability, Tristar Transport , who spoke about the fundamentals of an effective Road Transport Safety management system based on internationally recognised best practices and local industry standards, while Ashok Kulkarni, Downstream Road Safety Manager East & Africa Shell Markets (Middle East) Ltd, talked about the benefits of In-Vehicle-Monitoring-System and its benefits for businesses such as Road safety performance with reduced incidents as well as economic benefits including reduced mileage, fuel efficiency, reduced trip time and increased vehicle utilisation.
Faisal Bhatti, Group HSE Manager, Tristar Transport , gave a presentation on additional features (hardware) in vehicles to enhance safety of vehicles, while Rod McCulloch, Regional Health, Safety and Environment Manager DP World , UAE Region, discussed 3rd Party Port Visitor Induction program at the Jebel Ali Terminal.
According to World Health Oganization’s statistics, more than 1.2 million people die due to road accidents every year and 50 million get injured, the highest road traffic death rates is in the middle income countries due to fast paced economic activity. The Road Safety Campaign by the Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network members would like the companies to promote sound health and safety driving practices at work to extend the benefits to the private driving, which could reduce the chances of staff being injured in a crash outside work.
Dr. Belaid Rettab, Senior Director, Economic Research and Sustainable Business Development Sector, Dubai Chamber , stressed on the importance of road safety for an individual whose life he said does not belong to him alone but also to his family and the community, therefore this session and the continuing road safety campaign emphasis on safe ways for the prevention of traffic accidents and saving of precious lives.
He added that the “Be Responsible – Drive Safe” campaign is the first-of-its-kind campaign on road safety targeted at businesses and shows the commitment of the Sustainability Network members towards enhancing the reputation of Dubai as a safe and responsible business destination.
Tristar Transport launched its second Sustainability Report during the event which describes the company’s overall sustainability approach and its efforts toward driving health and safety, enhancing employee well-being, reducing environmental impact and contributing to community development.
The Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network has 58 members backed by business-driven and action-oriented task groups with the objective to address CSR and Sustainability challenges within the U.A.E. The task groups serve as a multi-stakeholder platform to discuss and exchange CSR/Sustainability views and practices.
The Sustainability Network started out with only four corporate members in 2010 and in just 3 years 73 networking events have been held, bringing together 1,049 participants from across the business community. It aims to grow its members to 100 by 2017, not only in the country but also across the region.
Source : WAM News Agency for United Arab Emirates
