SAFETY FIRST: TJ s marketing manager, Luke Haskell, right, with the Transport for London award for reducing occupational road risk for the haulage companys 165 drivers.
One of the largest bulk haulage providers in southern England has been recognised nationally for helping to make our roads safer.
TJ Transport, headquartered near Portsmouth, won the Transport for London award for reducing occupational road risk for the company’s 165 drivers.
Thanks to TJ’s new online driver induction programme, following an investment of more than £12,000, there has been a sharp drop in work-related road risks.
The accolade was presented in front of 270 delegates, representing 60 organisations, at the Mineral Products Association’s (MPA) health and safety conference and awards in London.
Criteria for the award included showing how technology, management systems and behavioural initiatives can reduce road accidents.
John Gosling, TJ’s managing director, said afterwards: “Transport for London’s trophy means a lot to us, representing how we have overhauled our approach to driver training, with the clear aim of achieving a working environment free of accidents and ill health.
“Our online training portal has enabled the driver training to be consistent, interactive and trackable, as well as improving the ease of delivery of inductions, both internal and external, for our mobile workforce.”
Learning segments were professionally filmed as part of the programme, allowing drivers to build in their own training timetable in either one session or bite-sized sessions.
John added: “TJ’s online training portal, for which every member of staff has a dedicated log-in, resulted in a dramatic reduction in occupational road risk.
“There has also been a significant drop in the number of minor vehicle safety defects because of driver-managed care and maintenance.
“We have redefined the delivery of driver training, doubling the total training to 40 hours on average in one month alone.”
Credit was paid to Lee Downer, TJ’s in-house driver trainer.
Lee, a qualified Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPD) trainer, formulated and delivered the induction content.
John said: “Lee went the extra mile to ensure what could have been a monotonous ‘tick box’ exercise to sit through was very much the opposite. He engaged staff throughout, making sure key messages resonate.
“Moreover, Lee used his training skills to break up the subjects appropriately, apply them in context and use a mixture of media to help demonstrate.”
With the portal, drivers can also be inducted into the protocols and procedures of TJ’s customers, such as Tarmac, Cemex and Hanson.
Now in its 22nd year and with a mixed-use range of 165 vehicles, Fareham-based TJ employs 220 staff and works for 3,000 companies and organisations across southern England.
The MPA conference was hosted by BBC presenter Sybil Ruscoe.
