Holcim Romania initiates road safety programme

Holcim Romania has initiated a national road safety programme to raise awareness of the importance of  safe driving across the supply chain. The three-year programme consists of series of projects mainly aimed at reducing the number of casualties and critical road incidents in Romania.

The national road safety programme launched by the building materials producer will comprise four main action directions which will take place simultaneously and in which the company has invested over EUR100,000:

• An education and involvement programme in the local communities
• A programme for raising awareness and training the companies providing transport services to its company
• A series of focus groups for professional drivers
• An integrated journey management programme
• As part of the project dedicated to local communities, Holcim Romania introduced the educational project “Safe Road – the ABC of the road” in 12 schools across four counties (Arges, Bihor, Cluj and Dambovita), starting this autumn. The project is developed based on the road education curriculum developed in 2015 by the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research and helps the pupils from the primary level to understand the traffic rules and how they can prevent road accidents. Through practical activities and interactive games, 550 pupils learn the importance of circulating safely on public roads, how to observe traffic rules and adopt a preventive attitude.

The team in charge of managing the fleet providing transport services to Holcim will also communicate directly on the importance of road safety, through a training program which sets to align the road safety standards between Holcim and the partner transport companies, starting from the statistics concerning the road incidents provided by the World Health Organization.

The statistic data show that 80% of the road accidents happen because of an inappropriate driving behavior. In this respect, it is important to establish sustainable partnerships with the carriers, through training sessions. Through this module we cover all the contractors (transport companies) for all the activities of Holcim: cement, concrete, aggregates, raw materials, alternative fuels.

The third project included in the road safety program consists in focus groups with 550 professional drivers (employees of the companies providing transport services for Holcim), in order to encourage their involvement in raising awareness on the importance of road safety. The conclusions will be further processed by Holcim Health and Safety team and will be implemented in the fleet companies.

Through the Journey Management project, the fourth direction of action of the road safety programne, the company aims at implementing, in a sustainable manner, several viable measurement tools which allow for an efficient management and for the diminution of road accidents which can occur in our supply chain.

”Holcim Romania permanently seeks to improve and develop the Health and Safety standards and culture among its employees. This supports our “Zero harm” vision in all processes and activities. One of our major concerns is to comply with the traffic rules and we wish to contribute with this road safety program to decreasing the number of fatal and critical accidents. We can do this only by changing the drivers’ mentality and raising their awareness with regard to the traffic risks”, declared François Petry, CEO Holcim Romania.