Together with the National Road Safety Observatory (ONSV), CEBDS launched the Corporate Self-Assessment Tool for Road Safety and a reference manual of good practices.
The main objective of the Manual is to develop a model capable of increasing road safety, reversing the negative impacts currently caused by accidents both in companies and in society. In addition to reducing the number of deaths and permanent injuries, actions aimed at improving road safety bring benefits to companies – increased productivity, reduced employee absence and expenses with unforeseen events, reduced environmental accidents involving the transportation of dangerous goods, and a healthier work environment, among others.
“We are increasingly seeing that sustainability is an absolutely cross-cutting issue, and that one action can have a positive impact on many others. This is also the case with road safety – safe driving translates into health benefits, greater efficiency in travel with lower vehicle maintenance costs, and greater process effectiveness. Companies benefit, drivers benefit, the environment benefits (safer driving is usually less polluting driving) and society as a whole benefits. The impact is environmental, economic and social, all of which sustainability should aim to achieve.” Says Monica Guerra, coordinator of the CEBDS Sustainable Mobility Chamber.
Brazilian context
Traffic accidents are among the main causes of premature death or permanent injuries in Brazil. According to the latest UN survey (2010), the country was ranked fourth in the world in terms of the number of traffic deaths, surpassed only by China, India and Nigeria. It is estimated that 101,300 deaths in traffic – there were 42,266 in 2013 in Brazil – are related to corporate transport and, therefore, are classified as work-related accidents.
The high cost of accidents
In addition to the immeasurable cost of lives, the high number of accidents in Brazil has a direct impact on the internal performance of companies: from fleet maintenance to costs associated with compensation and loss of productivity.
The Manual, produced with the fundamental collaboration of companies under the coordination of the CEBDS Sustainable Mobility Thematic Chamber, provides a model and creates a reference for the technical evaluation and analysis of safety criteria in the value chain of different sectors. It seeks to guide the realization of a diagnosis of the current safety situation in the movement of people and products in the service of the company (e.g. transportation of chemical products; trips to meetings, etc., excluding home-work trips) and provides recommendations for reducing exposure to risk. In addition, it includes cases successful report on the benefits of operational road safety management in companies.
The tool, designed for use in companies of different sizes, is an automated self-assessment form. As a result of its completion, it presents the definition of an Action Plan for improving the companies' travel practices.
