Mumbai – In an effort to address the topical issue of safety standards on the road in India, Henkel Adhesive Technologies, a subsidiary of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Germany has launched a road safety initiative that has far reaching effects to curb fatalities & accidents in the country. The Go Safe with Henkel Campaign on Road Safety will create a behavioral shift amongst transporters and heavy vehicle operators to bring about a change in the attitude towards compliance to safety regulations in India.
In keeping with the changing norms and procedures, the need of the hour is to collaborate and reach out to all transporters and ensure that there are global road safety standards in place on Indian roads. Statistically, the current scenario shows India with one of the worst increase in fatalities year on year. According to the Government of India, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Research Wing, the year 2011 alone recorded 142485 people killed on the road. Out of the same data, 110461 accidents involved commercial vehicles and the sharpest increase in the number of deaths was in the twilight time (before sunrise and after sunset) with 77 percent occurring due to driver negligence. With approximately over 106 people being killed on the road every day, the challenge is to address this problem together in partnership with corporate houses supporting the government initiatives.
Meeting international standards on road safety and inculcating the same in our day to day activities is an important step for Henkel as a corporate with day to day operations in India. The Go Safe Campaign will encourage each and every transporter and commercial vehicle mover associated with Henkel to adhere to strict guidelines with regard to driving, vehicle conditions, road traffic movement sensitivity training, increasing accountability, focus on proper documentation, speed checks at regular intervals, and also emphasizing on the vital aspect- fitness of drivers. The guidelines are the foundation on which the collaboration with several service providers can ensure safer roads for all in India. On the occasion of the launch, Mr. Jeremy Hunter, President, Henkel India said, “With the Go Safe with Henkel Campaign on Road Safety, we aspire to build awareness, inculcate a sense of responsibility and create a behavioral shift in all our stakeholders, employees and transporters who have shown strong faith in collaborating with us on this initiative. This is a first step towards education, training and building awareness at the basic level in the hope that in years to come, we will see a systematic safe system approach in the way commercial vehicles move in the country.”
With this initiative towards Road Safety, Henkel embarks on a journey in partnership with every stakeholder to achieve awareness that has far reaching implications and can make a difference to the quality and value of human life chain in India on the road for drivers who lose their lives every day due to lack of training and pedestrians who are innocent victims of negligent driving and non-compliance to regulations.
