RoSPA Offers Training To Young Driver’s At Work
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is addressing concerns that young people are not equipped for driving at work by developing free workshops to tackle the issue.The safety charity, which has undertaken a major of study of the problem, is now looking for 10 organisations which employ drivers between the ages of 17 and 24 to pilot the Driving for Work workshops interactive workshops, which are designed to be delivered in-company to groups of 10-15, from next month until October.
The study concluded that more than 60 per cent of employers felt the current system of learner training and testing did not adequately prepare young people to drive as part of their work, whether to make deliveries, as part of a sales team or simply to drive passengers around a site, it showed that they face, and create, a higher risk than other drivers.
After the pilot workshops are completed, RoSPA will use feedback from the sessions to develop free training guides so that employers can run similar events for their own staff. The workshops will cover issues raised by employers who took part in the Young Drivers at Work project survey, including the differences between driving for work and what is covered in the learner test.
Duncan Vernon, RoSPA road safety manager, said: “It is clear that further support is needed for young drivers at work, and employers have indicated they prefer face-to-face workshops as a way of giving that support. The Driving for Work workshops have been developed to go some way towards bridging the clear skills and training gap highlighted in our report, which was published earlier this year.
“Many young drivers are currently required to drive in a context for which they are not adequately prepared, and these workshops offer a chance to address some of the issues they face. Journey planning, hazard awareness and the causes of work accidents will be examined, as will ways of influencing the attitudes of young drivers.”
RoSPA is also offering opportunities for smaller businesses to send their young employees to workshops, so that firms with one or two young drivers can also benefit from the training.
Duncan Vernon added: “We want to empower employers to better equip and protect their young driving staff. Making these free resources available fits in with our charitable mission to save lives and reduce injuries.”
Organisations interested in taking part in the workshops should contact Duncan Vernon at dvernon@rospa.com or 0121 248 2078. See www.rospa.com/roadsafety/youngdriversatwork/forfull details of the Young Drivers at Work project, which is being funded by the Department for Transport.
See also:
No comments yet
