During the week of 14th-18th September, Barhale supported Project EDWARD (Every Day Without a Road Death). This is a campaign that Barhale have promoted for a number of years now. For 2020, the theme of the week focussed on those who drive for work.

Within Barhale, we aimed to raise awareness of the risks and provide tips and resources to improve skills across the company and also wider, through social media. We highlighted some of the hazards and dangers that we face every day whilst driving and working on the roads and looked at how to combat them.

Employees were encouraged to visit the Project EDWARD website and watch the webinars that were available all week as part of their Virtual Road Trip.

Other focus areas included:

• Fatigue and the effects that it can have on driving – The dangers of driving whilst tired were highlighted and tips were shared on how to spot the signs of driver fatigue, as well as how to beat it.
• Healthy driving, healthy vehicle – This focussed on ensuring that we not only assess whether we are safe and healthy to drive, but also that the vehicles we utilise are. Drivers were encouraged to ensure they carry out regular vehicle checks for instance oil/water/screen wash levels, tyres, windscreen, lights and brakes
• Driving statistics throughout the business – Drivers were reminded of the importance of the technologies that we use to ensure our extensive fleet of vehicles are tracked and monitored to ensure employees are driving safely. Data is able to create a driver risk score, which allows us to identify where issues are in order to ensure additional measures are implemented to result in better and safer drivers.

As a business, Barhale is keen to promote safe driving techniques all year round, not just during the Project EDWARD campaign.