July 2009 - M&G Vehicle Hire signs up to European Road Safety Charter
Safety-focused rental company M&G Vehicle Hire Ltd is one of 20 UK-based organisations that have just signed the European Road Safety Charter.
M&G Vehicle Hire managing director Adrian Kilvington signs the
European Road Safety Charter
M&G Vehicle Hire, which specialise in the rental of commercial vehicles, operates a fleet of mostly small and medium sized vans from depots in Hull, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Sheffield. Its primary target is the commercial vehicle hire market in South and East Yorkshire as well as North Lincolnshire.
The overall objective of the Charter is to cut in half the number of road fatalities across Europe from 50,000 annually to 25,000. There are currently almost 1,400 signatories including enterprises, associations, research institutions and public authorities.
The UK Government recently announced that last year the number of people killed on Britain's roads fell by 14% to 2,538 - the largest percentage fall in a single year since World War II, while serious injuries fell by 6%.
Adrian Kilvington, managing director of M&G Vehicle Hire Ltd., a subsidiary of Britain's largest vehicle rental company, Northgate Vehicle Hire, signed-up when the Charter road show visited London.
On behalf of M&G Vehicle Hire, Mr Kilvington joined other signatories in pledging to carry out concrete actions and share their good practices in order to resolve the road safety problems that they encounter in their day-to-day environments.
M&G Vehicle Hire rents vehicles to many businesses as well as private customers and Mr Kilvington said: "An estimated 200 road deaths and serious injuries a week result from crashes involving at work drivers with more employees killed and seriously injured on Britain's roads while driving on behalf of their employer - more than in any other work-related activity.
"As a business we believe we have a moral duty to promote road safety and implement a range of initiatives to further reduce the number of deaths and injuries on Britain's roads. Safer roads benefit all businesses operationally and the wider community.
"By signing the Charter we hope to encourage all organisations and our customers to develop a safety culture among their employees."
M&G Vehicle Hire, alongside its parent company, are the only rental fleets to be among the 27 'business champion' companies that support the Government-backed 'Driving for Better Business' campaign, which is delivered by the automotive industry supported road safety charity RoadSafe.
Meanwhile, M&G Vehicle Hire was recently 'highly commended' in the annual Fleet Safety Forum Awards organised by road safety charity Brake. The awards recognise excellence in road risk management in helping to reduce the number of at-work drivers involved in crashes on Britain's roads.
The company's commitments to its customers include ensuring that vehicles are comprehensively serviced to aid legal compliance with customer's duty of care responsibilities.
M&G Vehicle Hire ensures that every vehicle is inspected by an IRTEC (Institute of Road Transport Engineers) qualified mechanic and is signed off as meeting the company's road safety standards prior to issue to a customer. This process is applied every time the vehicle is hired out, even if more than once in a single day.
Additionally, M&G Vehicle Hire has:
- Implemented the Health and Safety Executive's 'Successful Health and Safety Management' (HSG 65) guidance so ensure consistent health and safety standards and disciplines are in place across all depots.
- Formed a Management steering group to review and develop health and safety policy on a regular basis.
- Published health and safety procedures and employee driver manuals alongside a rolling health & safety training programme, involving all employees, designed to promote a positive health and safety culture throughout the business.
- Distributed best practice occupational road risk management advice and information to customers to advise and assist them in meeting with their duty of care responsibilities
In the UK, Northgate Vehicle Hire operates a fleet of more than 65,000 vehicles from around 75 locations.
