Safety

Road Safety

“Road accidents are a major problem in Colombia, causing more than 5,000 deaths and 40,000 injuries every year. As coordinator of the RSA Columbia Road Accident Prevention team, my role is to help reduce these figures.

We recently launched an initiative to educate employees and customers about safe driving. This includes a training handbook for motorcyclists and car and lorry drivers which we distribute by email. We also provide e-learning and face-to-face training, including tests to measure how fast people react to noise and visual stimuli.

Another course targets drivers of commercial fleets who are more at risk of being in an accident due to the amount of time spent on the road. The course is available in short modules designed to fit around their work schedule.

We also produce a monthly bulletin aimed at employees and customers providing information on different aspects of road safety, including seat belts, drinking and driving, effective braking, driving in poor weather conditions and extra precautions to take on public holidays - traditionally a high-risk time.”

Jason Valdes
Road Safety Coordinator,
Colombia

Road safety

Motor insurance is a core part of our business. In many of the countries where we operate, traffic congestion, accidents and other road transport issues are growing concerns. We are committed to improving road safety awareness and cutting accidents and claims.

Chile

Our road safety education programme, Atentos y Seguros con RSA (Be Aware and be Safe with RSA), aims to tackle the high number of traffic incidents involving children. Primary school teachers, with the support of RSA employees, teach children about how to use the road safely. The programme uses games, competitions and an online club to reinforce its message. The programme reached 20,072 children in 2008.

Lithuania

For the last nine years our Lithuanian business has organised the safe traffic campaign “Save me”. Every September, with the beginning of the new school year, RSA reminds drivers to be alert for children on the streets. Special signs are placed on street crossings where children are insured by the business for the week. No children have been injured on these specific crossings. At the end of the school year we also organise an internet campaign “Safe summer” to improve students’ awareness of traffic safety during the summer holidays.

Scandinavia

RSA is the leading provider of illness and accident insurance for children in Scandinavia. During 2008 we launched a new child accident prevention trust together with the Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital in Stockholm. The purpose of the trust is to support research and education and also to support families who have been affected by their child’s accident. It also works to prevent accidents by improving road safety knowledge.

During Volunteer Day 150 employees in six cities gave away brochures on child safety and 20,000 reflector tags to increase children’s visibility in traffic.

In 2008 a similar trust was launched in Denmark. It handed out reflector vests to many Danish children, including all the school children in Brøndby, a major city near Copenhagen.

Employees in Norway also engaged in a project to improve traffic safety in the winter when the roads are particularly dangerous due to the limited light. Thirty employees gave away 2,000 reflector vests.

Life buoys

Since 1954 we have donated life buoys to all the Swedish municipalities, boat clubs and harbours. So far, approximately 500,000 life buoys have been donated in Sweden. Our life buoys save in average 10-12 lives every year across Sweden.

Fire safety in Latvia

Our business in Latvia and the National Fire Fighting and Rescue Service teamed up to teach kindergarten children about fire safety rules and what to do when faced with an unexpected situation. The fire safety lessons are taught by Baltins, a fire-fighting elephant character, who has visited 49 schools. After each event, the children were asked to discuss the new information with their parents and draw pictures of what they had learnt.