Improving road safety

Every day, vehicles on Shell company business drive millions of kilometres. Through a network of more than 18,000 contractor drivers, we continue to take responsibility ourselves for the delivery of the oil and chemical products we refine in many countries. This represents a significant safety risk because we operate in some of the most dangerous places in the world to drive. So getting road safety right is an urgent priority.
 
Many of the road safety programmes introduced over the last few years are starting to show results. In Nigeria, for example, over 3,500 vehicles were fitted with onboard monitoring systems by the end of 2008. The system lets us track behaviour directly and gives drivers detailed feedback on ways to improve their driving habits. We have already seen compliance with our road safety standards improve as a result.

A number of our big construction projects have successfully reduced the amount of travel needed. One way is to provide accommodation on the project site is one way, as we have done during construction at the Singapore chemical complex expansion. Bussing in workers to reduce car journeys, as our oil sands project does is another way. Using water or rail to get trucks off the road is a third way.

We are learning from these successes and spreading their use more widely across Shell. To help do that, we created a dedicated centre of road safety expertise in 2008. It is headed by a company-wide road safety manager charged with implementing a standardised Shell-wide road safety programme, based on what we have seen work well locally. The centre also supports the implementation of our company-wide road safety standards. Introduced in 2007, they cover areas such as route planning, driver training and banning all use of mobile phones.

Every year, 1.2 million people are killed and 50 million injured in road traffic accidents worldwide. More than 85% of these casualties happen in the developing world. So we work with other companies to help set standards for the transport industry, pool skills and resources, and influence governments to improve the safety of the roads and to raise standards for the vehicles on the roads. For example, we continue to support local and national road safety programmes in many of the countries where we operate. In Brunei, for example, the “Tell A Friend” campaign to increase seat-belt wearing had reached nearly a fifth of the population within nine months of its launch in 2008. 

Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP)
Through the GRSP we work with international agencies, companies and governments on practical projects to reduce road accidents. The GRSP has established the Global Road Safety Initiative (GRSI), which we partly fund. The GRSI is a five-year programme that runs from 2005-2009. Download the GRSI’s interim report (PDF, 2683 KB) - opens in new window.

Sakhalin Energy is working with the GRSP to improve road safety on Sakhalin Island. The road safety programmes on Sakhalin have been so successful that they received the ‘Energy Institute 2007 Safety Award’.

Read more about the road safety programme on the Sakhalin Energy website - opens in new window

Learn  more about the work of the Global Road Safety Initiative - opens in new window

European Transport Safety Council (ETSC)
We are also working with the European Transport Safety Council where we chair the Oil and Gas Producers forum on road safety. The forum is developing common safety standards for our industry, and promoting collaboration between our industry and external parties to encourage road safety. The ESTC is a supporter of the Make Roads Safe campaign.

Visit the European Transport Safety Council website  - opens in new window

Visit the Make Roads Safe campaign website - opens in new window

International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP)
Through OGP we have developed a set of Land Transportation Safety Recommended Practices for our industry. We believe that following these practices can significantly reduce road traffic injuries and fatalities. They can be used by OGP member companies in their own operations and with their contractors, for example when deciding which companies are qualified to bid on contracts. You can download these documents on the OGP website - opens in new window.