Safer Highways CEO and board members join group to tackle roadworker abuse and incursions.
Safer Highways CEO, Kevin Robinson, and several of its board members have joined an industry-wide group, formed to tackle the issue of roadworker abuse across our network.
Set up in response to tackling the issue, which happens with alarming regularity, the group is focussed around three core focus areas.
· A change in the law to reflect the recent announcement around the doubling of sentences for those who abuse “key services workers” to extend to highways and construction.
· A public awareness campaign around how our employees are not merely maintenance operatives who keep our network flowing but also have a vital role to play within our community.
· An organisational campaign to reduce the stigma around the reporting of the negative impacts on mental health which abuse causes to our workforce.
Led by Kari Sprostanova, Health Safety Environment and Sustainability Director, UKCS at Balfour Beatty and involving several Safer Highways board members including David Foster, SHEQ Director of Carnell, and Rachel Heaps of Tarmac, the group has the aspirational goal of effecting real change in the climate around the issue of abuse whilst also linking with the Highways England Supply Chain Safety Leadership group to find a way to once and for all manage incursions on both the high and low speed networks.
Speaking about the announcement, Safer Highways CEO, Kevin Robinson explained why this was a space he felt so passionately about stepping into.
He said, “All too often we hear stories of our people being abused whilst simply trying to go about their daily work.
“But verbal abuse is just the tip of the iceberg.
“In the last 10 years one contractor alone has reported 25 incidents of a gun being pulled on an operative, and worse still, one being narrowly missed by an arrow fired from a crossbow.
“How is this acceptable?” he continued.
“We need to take a stand, not tomorrow, but TODAY.
Speaking about why there needs now be a real drive to change the landscape Robinson said,
“Over the last few months, our workforce have been classified ‘key workers’ and as such they should be afforded the same level of protection as others such as doctors and nurses.
“We perform a vital role in keeping our country moving and as such we should be afforded the same level of protection.
“Yet figures show we are not, incursions are commonplace and the level of abuse our workforce suffer is beyond frightening.
Mr Robinson concluded, that this is a broader education piece around ensuring that the general public are aware of the vital role our road workers play, even in a global pandemic, and reaffirming his desire to effect real change he concluded by saying,
“When we first examined the issue, we concluded this was a massive challenge and something we, as a group could not tackle alone.
"There have been numerous attempts over the past decade to scale this Everest, and yet whilst all have chipped away at the problem none have truly found a solution, hence on this occasion we have taken the unprecedented step of involving the regulator (Health and Safety Executive) at the outset.
“I sincerely hope that, through a collective desire, we can truly make a difference and effectively uphold the Safer Highways values of being able to look back in the years to come and say we made a difference for the man with the boots on the ground and the shovel in his hand.”