Vehicle care
Over one million people die as a result of road accidents every year.
Driving safety
As a global business - and one that drove a total of 1.62 billion kilometres during 2003 - road safety is a pressing concern for BP. But not one we can tackle alone.
Despite our efforts over many years, vehicle accidents remain the largest single cause of employee and third-party fatalities involving BP. We suffered a 50% increase in workforce fatalities in 2003. This is primarily attributed to transport related incidents, of which there were 14 in 2003 compared to 4 in 2002. These figures do not include 28 members of the public who died in road transport incidents involving BP vehicles in 2003.
BP driving standard
We introduced a comprehensive formal standard on driving safety in January 2004. This new standard contains a set of strict rules designed to reduce the number and frequency of driving related accidents and fatalities by demanding higher standards from BP employees. We have recommended that the same rules are followed by BP contractors.
The standard aims to: 'reduce the number and frequency of driving related accidents and fatalities and improve safety performance by reducing both the risk to which BP employees are exposed and the potential for harm to members of the public.’ It comprises 10 key elements - all based on agreed safety principles. These include: minimum vehicle requirements; driver fitness requirements; mobile phone use prohibition (including 'hands-free’) and compulsory seatbelt use.
Our Road Safety Leadership Team played a leading role in developing the new standard. Headed by a full-time manager for road safety, the team will support implementation of the driving standard in 2004 and 2005.
Implementing the driving standard
Our aim is that the standard will be in place for all BP companies, employees and vehicles by January 2005. Recording accidents involving all types of vehicles, driven on- or off-road, will let us gauge the impact of the standard. We will use a 'total vehicle accident rate’ to monitor and report our progressWorking in partnership
In 2003 we launched or participated in a number of different driving safety initiatives. These included: 'Helmets for Kids’, a joint effort with other businesses and the Asia Prevention Foundation to take road safety into the classroom; 'Drive for Safety’, a Castrol India programme highlighting the dangers of on-the-road mobile phone use and not wearing seat belts; as well as a road safety awareness campaign in Turkey.
We also worked in partnership with several organisations outside BP, including the Global Road Safety Partnership, the Ford/FIA foundation, the European Transport Safety Council and the UK Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety.
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