RTITB champions logistics road safety at Health & Safety Event

The interactive presentation will be given in the conference theatre by RTITB’s Technical Services Executive, Richard Brewer, who will explore how improvements to driver awareness could help to reduce the number of fatal incidents involving goods vehicles and vulnerable road users every year.

Approximately 56 cyclists are killed in incidents involving LGVs in the UK every year and up until now media focus has been placed on traffic safety schemes. Recent coverage has led to a neglect of the issues concerning other vulnerable road user groups but motivated some industry adoption of quick technological solutions such as cameras and sensors.  However, RTITB is looking to explore a more holistic approach to improving road safety and the talk, entitled ‘Tackling Driver Behaviour and Risk Taking’, will discuss how.
One issue RTITB will be focusing on in the talk is the responsibility of the people inside and outside the vehicle. Technological solutions are helpful but an understanding of how vision and general driving behaviour is affected in certain situations is vital for the safety of the entire industry. Much of a driver or pedestrian’s optical behaviour is subconscious, but there are training techniques, covered in RTITB’s Driver CPC Periodic Training courses, that drivers can apply to help them perform at their best. An understanding of these issues could go a long way to reducing the number of fatal accidents each year.
As well as being informative and thought-provoking, the conference presentation will be highly interactive and encourage the audience to participate in the discussion, showcasing some of the tried and tested training techniques used to keep learners engaged and motivated during RTITB’s Driver CPC courses.  Those attending the talk will also receive a useful handout to take away which summarises the key points of the presentation.
With over 30 years of experience working in a variety of roles including professional LGV driver, Warehouse Manager, Depot Training Co-ordinator for major 3PL’s and Supply Chain Skills Manager, Richard is the perfect candidate to speak on this important subject. Richard holds the Certificate of Professional Competence for Transport Managers (Road Haulage), is a qualified LGV instructor, an ISO9001 Lead Auditor, an advanced driver and was once a finalist for Driver of the Year.
“My parents had a haulage business so I was born into the transport industry and I’ve continued working in the field ever since, so I’ve experienced these issues first hand” says Richard Brewer. “It’s so easy for mistakes to be made while driving, often at the expense of vulnerable road users, but RTITB is constantly striving to find ways to improve the safety of the industry and hopefully we can cover some new ground with this talk.”
Join RTITB at the Health & Safety Event on Wed 23rd March from 13.25 – 13.55 for the presentation; exploring the importance of a holistic approach to improving road safety through an understanding of driver optical behaviour and the risks that all road users and pedestrians take every minute of every day.
Attendees are encouraged to contact RTITB on +44(0)1952 520218 if they would like to meet with Richard before or after the session to discuss any of the topics covered in the talk.
The Health & Safety Event is one of the industry’s leading educational and networking exhibitions and aims to bring together the most influential companies and individuals who are impacted by health and safety measures. The event spans three days and features 45 prestigious professionals who will speak on a variety of health and safety related topics, as well as over 200 exhibition stands and 48 informative conference and seminar sessions.