RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
September 13, 2004
SCOTLAND’S WORK ROAD ACCIDENTS COST 100 LIVES A YEAR
Work-related road accidents are killing up to 100 people a year in Scotland, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Safety and Health at Work Congress in Glasgow will be told tomorrow (Wednesday, Sept 15).
Mike McDonnell, Director of the Scottish Road Safety Campaign, will be discussing ways to cut the number of deaths on Scotland’s roads involving people who are at work at the time.
The high number of employees killed on the roads is now the UK’s biggest safety-at-work issue, he will tell the conference sponsored by ESS, Support Services Worldwide, at the Hilton Glasgow Hotel (September 15 and 16).
It is estimated that between a third and a quarter of road accidents in Britain involve someone who is at work at the time - and that means 80-100 deaths a year in Scotland, Mike McDonnell will say.
RoSPA is campaigning on the issue as the scale of the problem is often missed, because work-related road accidents are not included in occupational accident statistics. Provisional figures for 2002/3 show 36 employed and self-employed people were killed in reportable occupational accidents in Scotland, but this excludes the death toll of drivers and others working on the road.
Mike McDonnell said: “A vast number of jobs now require people to be on the road each day and their bosses have a responsibility to manage their safety. The number of deaths and injuries can be reduced if employers are prepared to tackle this problem as a mainstream health and safety issue.
“A commitment to manage occupational road risk makes good business sense as it cuts costs and reduces the amount of time staff are off work.”
The RoSPA congress - Learning, Sharing, Moving Forward - features speakers who work and live in Scotland and therefore have knowledge of the particular problems faced by local employers.
These include: Kevin Hanlon of the Scottish Executive who will be explaining Healthy Working Lives - the new national plan to significantly improve health in Scotland; Ian Tasker of the Scottish TUC on stress management standards; Tommy Gorman and Councillor Andrew White of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities Asbestos Project; and Ron Hunter of ScottishPower on embedding health and safety management in business education.
