Holcim Romania to invest over EUR 100,000 in a national road safety program

Bucharest, 10 November: Holcim Romania has initiated a national road safety program aimed to raise awareness on the importance of an appropriate driving behavior across the supply chain. The 3-years program consists of series of valuable projects mainly aimed at reducing the number of human casualties and the number of critical incidents on the roads in Romania.

At global level, every year, road accidents kill over 1.3 million people and injure 20-25 million people, with injuries caused by traffic accidents being the main death cause among people between 15 and 29.[1] Statistically speaking, Romania holds the first place in the European Union in terms of the number of deaths caused by road accidents and the second in Europe after Russia. Someone loses his/her life on the roads in Romania every four hours.

These statistics have determined LafargeHolcim Group to launch a road safety program which will also be implemented in Romania, through a series of projects which have proven their effectiveness in improving road safety, as confirmed by extended researches in the academic and organizational environment.

The national road safety program launched by Holcim in Romania will comprise four main action directions which will take place simultaneously and in which the company has invested over 100,000 euros:

1.    An education and involvement program in the local communities

2.    A program for raising awareness and training the companies providing transport services to our company

3.    A series of focus groups for professional drivers and

4.    An integrated journey management program.

As part of the project dedicated to local communities, Holcim Romania introduced the educational project “Safe Road – the ABC of the road” in 12 schools from four counties (Arges, Bihor, Cluj and Dambovita), starting this autumn. The project is developed based on the road education curriculum developed in 2015 by the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research and helps the pupils from the primary level to understand the traffic rules and how they can prevent road accidents. Through practical activities and interactive games, 550 pupils learn what it means to circulate safely on public roads, they learn how to observe traffic rules and adopt a preventive attitude.

The team in charge of managing the fleet providing transport services to Holcim will also communicate directly on the importance of road safety, through a training program which sets to align the road safety standards between Holcim and the partner transport companies, starting from the statistics concerning the road incidents provided by the World Health Organization.

The statistic data show that 80% of the road accidents happen because of an inappropriate driving behavior. In this respect, it is important to establish sustainable partnerships with the carriers, through training sessions. Through this module we cover all the contractors (transport companies) for all the activities of Holcim: cement, concrete, aggregates, raw materials, alternative fuels.

The third project included in the road safety program consists in focus groups with 550 professional drivers (employees of the companies providing transport services for Holcim), in order to encourage their involvement in raising awareness on the importance of road safety. The conclusions will be further processed by Holcim Health and Safety team and will be implemented in the fleet companies.

Through the Journey Management project, the fourth direction of action of the road safety program, the company aims at implementing, in a sustainable manner, several viable measurement tools which allow for an efficient management and for the diminution of road accidents which can occur in our supply chain.

”Holcim Romania permanently seeks to improve and develop the Health and Safety standards and culture among its employees. This supports our “Zero harm” vision in all processes and activities. One of our major concerns is to comply with the traffic rules and we wish to contribute with this road safety program to decreasing the number of fatal and critical accidents. We can do this only by changing the drivers’ mentality and raising their awareness with regard to the traffic risks”, declared François Petry, CEO Holcim Romania.
 

About Holcim Romania

Holcim (Romania) S.A. owns 2 cement plants in Campulung and Alesd, one grinding station and a cement terminal in Turda, 14 environment-friendly ready-mixed concrete plants, 3 aggregates plants, 2 special binders plants and one cement terminal in Bucharest. Holcim (Romania) S.A. employs around 800 people. For additional information, please visit the company’s website at www.holcim.ro and on the official Facebook page: facebook.com/holcimromania

Holcim Romania is a member of LafargeHolcim group, which was born following the merger between equals between Lafarge and Holcim in 2015. With over 180 years of combined experience, the Group resulting from the merger aims at entering a new era of leading technologies and innovations in the building materials industry, in order to cope with the challenges of the 21st century.

[1] Source: World Health Organization