London Mayors call for action on road risk welcomed

London Mayor Boris Johnson’s support for action on occupational road risk has been welcomed by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
Transport for London (TfL) published findings this week of the first independent review into construction logistics and cyclist safety. The report was commissioned in wake of a worrying number of collisions involving construction vehicles.
Of the 16 cyclist fatalities in London in 2011, nine involved heavy goods vehicles and seven of these were construction vehicles.
The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) looked specifically at how cycle safety is considered within the vehicles’ design and operation.
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Analysis revealed that safety management on construction sites needs to be extended to all vehicle movements related to the construction project, whether these movements are on or off site.
The independent review outlined 12 recommendations, including:
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) should look at extending regulations that govern the reporting of on road collisions, with the report saying “…HSE should extend RIDDOR to include on-road collisions as a matter of urgency”
- Vehicle manufacturers should carry out more research into the blind spots of construction vehicles
- Contractors and their clients should look into setting more realistic time slots for deliveries
The Mayor of London said: “There is a clear and urgent need to address the spate of serious incidents we have seen involving construction vehicles and cyclists over recent years. That is why my team commissioned the first ever independent review of the relationship between construction vehicles and cyclist safety.
“The report contains some hugely important findings and our task now is to press the construction industry, safety regulators, highway authorities and politicians to make it a priority to take forward the recommendations made in this report.”
IOSH has long-called for improved management of occupational road risk and for serious work-related road traffic accidents (RTAs) to be RIDDOR reportable.
The Institution’s head of policy and public affairs, Richard Jones, said: “IOSH and its members are keen to contribute to the improvement of the management of occupational road risk, so we welcome Boris Johnson’s intervention on this issue.
“Inadequate controls can cost lives and road risk needs to be treated as seriously by those responsible for driving-related work activities as other workplace risks.
“Requiring serious work-related RTAs to be reportable under RIDDOR will mean they are higher on the corporate agenda for prevention and better data collection can help HSE focus its resource and take action on serious failures.
“All this can help save hundreds of lives a year and also prevent significant financial losses to businesses and the economy.”

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