On October 16th of this year, Unilever Polska signed the European Road Safety Charter. Initiated by the European Commission and implemented in Poland since 2004 by the National Road Safety Council, the Charter program aims to improve safety on Polish roads by inviting companies, administrative units, organizations, and non-governmental associations to cooperate. Signatories commit to carrying out specific actions aimed at improving road safety in Poland.
Unilever launched a safe driving program back in 2003 and systematically conducts activities aimed at over 3,000 company employees, both in terms of education and practical application.
The company organizes mandatory training for all employees who use company cars. A group of over 500 sales representatives (for whom the car is a primary work tool) is required to undergo training every 3 years, while others do so every 5 years. This year, approximately 200 people will be trained.
Since 2007, Unilever has been organizing safe driving competitions. The goal of the competition is to reduce the accident rate of each participating team by at least 25 percent. The winning team is the one that demonstrates the lowest accident rate, and prizes are also awarded to all members of teams that achieve the set minimum, excluding drivers who cause an accident.
A new initiative by Unilever in 2009 is the organization of eco-friendly driving training and the “I drive ECO” competition. All company employees who use the company fleet are invited to participate in the competitions; so far, over 1,700 people have taken part.
– The program we have been running since 2003 is very broad: it includes various types of training with first aid elements, safe driving competitions, and lectures conducted by the Metropolitan Police Headquarters. At the same time, it has a very practical character – for example, we conduct tests that help identify and improve improper driving techniques, allowing for the change of inappropriate behaviors and bad habits behind the wheel. These actions bring very concrete results in the form of reducing the accident rate in the company and increasing employee awareness – says Jerzy Cichostępski, Logistics Director at Unilever Polska.