Lawford Kidd's Blog

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has called for the Government to include work-related road traffic accidents (RTAs) in the national accident reporting system (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995).

According to latest provisional figures from the Department of Transport, in the year ending June 2012, 24,870 people are estimated to have been killed or seriously injured on the roads in the UK. In 2010 the Government estimated that 24% of serious injuries, and 30% of road deaths could be linked to work-related road traffic accidents.

Richard Jones, head of policy and public affairs at IOSH, said: “In our latest response to the RIDDOR consultation, we have again called for the Government to make serious injuries and deaths from work-related road traffic accidents reportable under RIDDOR.

A campaign launched at the start of Road Safety Week is appealing to drivers and authorities in Scotland to GO 20, to bring about a 2012 legacy of safe walking and cycling.

Brake, the road safety charity, is appealing to drivers to slow down to 20mph or below in communities, and calling for widespread 20mph limits in built up areas.

According to Brake, children are affected by danger from fast traffic in a number of ways, including:

New evidence about whiplash claims has been launched in Parliament. Based on independent research, The Whiplash Report 2012 dispels common myths about whiplash claims with the aim of clearing the way for sensible debate about the issue.

“The people who suffer these injuries are genuine,” APIL president Karl Tonks told MPs and peers at a House of Commons reception. “Honest claimants are not the problem – the problem is fraud, and fraud must be tackled by all sides working together if we are going to eliminate it.”

Among the research findings is the fact that 80% of whiplash sufferers either report their symptoms accurately or underplay them, and 90% of people seek a medical diagnosis.

A recent report commissioned by insurer RSA has found that road crashes caused by poor driver vision result in an estimated 2,900 casualties and cost £33 million per year.

Brake and RSA are calling for the numberplate test to be replaced with a requirement for drivers to have a proper vision test with a qualified professional at the start of their driving career, and mandatory re-testing every ten years thereafter linked to driving licence photocard renewal. Drivers should also be encouraged to voluntarily have their eyes tested every two years in line with NHS recommendations.

Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, the road safety charity, said:

A national standard for the management of work-related road risk would be welcomed by businesses, and should include ‘back to basics' advice to practitioners about the processes and interventions they should be using to manage and lower their risk, according to new research by TRL.

Dr Shaun Helman, who led the research, said: "For some time, we have known that work-related road collisions represent a serious injury burden, with at least around a fifth and perhaps as many as a third of injury road collisions in Great Britain involving someone who is driving for work at the time."

One of the key general findings of the research was that the management of work-related road risk is widely perceived to be lagging behind the management of health and safety risk in the workplace.