Following a rise in road worker abuse, Keltbray have taken positive steps to help eradicate it by signing the industry-led Stamp It Out Commitment.
In doing so it becomes the 101st organisation, whether local authority or contractor to sign the pledge in under six months.
By signing this, the council pledges to join the industry-led campaign to end roadworker abuse and the abuse of anybody working on the public highway.
It also pledges to; manage risk effectively through strong values, prioritise the safety of its people; ensure that when its people are exposed to risk of abuse it will empower them to speak up and demonstrate to its workforce that it will not tolerate the abuse workers find themselves exposed to on a daily basis.
Stamp It Out is an industry led programme and media campaign aimed at making the abuse of those who work on the public highways socially unacceptable and an occurrence that is frowned upon.
According to the organisation, there are 300 cases of incursions and abuse that takes place on monthly basis around the UK. But just 1 in 5 of those incidents is reported with an estimate figure of 1,500 cases per month or 18,000 a year on the UK road network.
When it comes to managing the risk we put our people under when they encounter aggression from members of the road using public we need to stand together as an industry and say, as a collective, that enough is enough.
Over 50% of roadworkers admit that they encounter abuse on a weekly basis with 70% saying that this is something which occurs at least once a month.
ISpeaking about the announcement of Keltbray signing the Stamp it Out commitment, Project Director, Kevin Robinson said,
“In the two and a half years since we founded the Stamp it Out programme we have made considerable progress.
“But it is now the turn of the Client and supply Chain to help us to drive the programme.
'To see forward thinking organisations, such as Keltbray, buying into our ethos is something which, as an industry, we should applaud.
“We have developed a reporting tool, designed information board signs which are free to deploy on worksites and are in the process of developing an engaging conflict management training course –now the baton passes to the supply chain and client to adopt them.
"When we see the figures which our own people tell us around the frequency of abuse it is frightening.
“In order that we retain our existing people and make our sector one which is a career of choice to new entrants we must tackle issues such as abuse.”
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