After two major minibus crashes involving its staff, a multi-industry company in the region took it upon itself to drive home a road safety message to its staff.
Using explanatory videos in five languages, appointing safety champs and making staff sign a pledge to wear a seatbelt, Serco Middle East has overhauled its safety procedures and prevented further crashes.
Two years ago, a minibus carrying Serco staff flipped over in Saudi Arabia and, in the same year, another bus, this time in Abu Dhabi, was involved in a head-on crash. None of the back-seat passengers had their seatbelts on and one woman ended up landing upside down and breaking her collar bone.
It caused the company to lose 135 working days as 18 staff were sent to hospital and it was the catalyst for change.
“At this point, road safety became a top priority for us,” said Laura Kelly, assurance director at Serco.
“The CEO said, ‘I don’t want to hear of any more of our staff getting hospitalised in 2016’.”
From that point, drivers underwent retraining, educational talks were held, wearing a seatbelt became compulsory and staff had to sign a commitment that they would do so.
Senior staff at the company also became watchdogs who would flag any unsafe driving practices, such as talking on phones while driving.
Read more: 100 die on Dubai's roads in nine months this year
Serco, which employs 4,500 people in the region, also produced a sophisticated video, translated into five languages, and, along with road safety experts and technology pioneers, started an annual forum to exchange experiences and best practices. The second such forum was held on Tuesday.
Ms Kelly believes the efforts have had a direct impact in bringing down staff casualties.
“In 2016, we set a target to have zero multiple injuries as a result of minibus accidents, and we have achieved that target,” she said.
“In 2015, no one was wearing a seatbelt so there were major broken bones, one lady turned upside down and broke her collar bone and there were weeks spent in hospital.”
Lost working days due to road injuries are also now down to 50, from 135.
“Today is to say, ‘this is what we did for Secro, and a number of others organisations did something similar, so let us share our information and share best practice,” said Ms Kelly.
Captain Saleem Al Amimi, from Dubai Police’s traffic institute, was in attendance at the forum and said that reducing road deaths to 0 by 2030 may seem far-fetched but it is possible. He said the force has already managed to bring it down from more than 20 per 100,000 people in 2008 to about three now.
“So it’s a big drop, and therefore it is possible,” he said.
ASIAN%20RUGBY%20CHAMPIONSHIP%202024
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
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Rating: 4/5
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
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Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
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Sand storm
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- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
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Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
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New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
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KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
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MO
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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THE 12 BREAKAWAY CLUBS
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
MATCH INFO
Alaves 1 (Perez 65' pen)
Real Madrid 2 (Ramos 52', Carvajal 69')
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Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
