“Better To Arrive Ten Minutes Late Than Not At All!”

The professional associations can provide support in the form of training and instruction, e. g. by sharing their expertise and providing materials. Ultimately, however, it is the commitment of the companies that counts. RWE Power AG, Essen/Germany, e. g., held road safety days for apprentices in their first year at four of their training locations. The German Social Accident ­Insurance Institution for the Raw Materials and Chemical Industry (BG RCI), Heidelberg/Germany, supported the energy supplier in raising awareness of important road safety issues among over 150 young people. The article was first published in issue 2/2024 of the BG RCI magazine.

In 2023 alone, the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Raw Materials and Chemical Industry (BG RCI), Heidelberg/Germany, recorded over 8,000 reportable and non-reportable commuting accidents that occurred on the way to or from work. Around 130 M € was spent on subsequent compensation payments. Starting educational work early to prevent road traffic accidents pays off in the long term – and not just in financial terms. After all, compared to accidents at work, commuting accidents often lead to higher levels of absenteeism.

“Unfortunately, we can confirm that,“ says Roger Ringel, Head of Technical Training at RWE Power AG, Essen/Germany. Because road accidents often have serious consequences, and in the worst cases can even be fatal. “A few years ago, a young apprentice was involved in an accident while overtaking. After a long stay in hospital, he finally died from the serious consequences of the accident,” continues Ringel. “That affected us all. And nobody wants to experience something like that again!” This makes it all the more important to raise awareness of road safety issues among younger novice drivers in particular, right from the outset.

But it is not only new drivers who learn important things for their everyday behaviour on the road during the action days. “I was also able to take a lot away for myself personally, and I’ve had my driving licence for 20 years,” explains Florian Schmieglitz, senior safety engineer in the Technology Division for Open-Cast Mining. He used the intensive discussions with the experts to discuss open questions and refresh his knowledge (Figure 1).

How did the road safety day at RWE Power AG go?

The BG RCI used accident examples from RWE Power to raise awareness of commuting and business travel accidents. In this context, data and facts on prevention in commuter traffic were presented and the tasks and services of the BG RCI were explained. Two speakers from the German Road Safety Council (DVR) provided important theoretical content in the form of short seminars entitled “Everything under control” and “Safe in my region”. In the latter, regionally specific accident black spots are discussed and possible dangers highlighted. “In our area, the sugar beet is harvested in autumn,“ explains Ringel. “The roads are dirty and the tractors have no lights. These are particular risks.“

In the afternoon, the apprentices, divided into groups, visited various stations that had been set up in an activity area. In addition to the theoretical knowledge, the practical exercises provided the intended eye-openers. Louis Adolffs, a first-year apprentice and participant in the last road safety days, agrees: “The rollover simulator was unbeatable!” he sums up. A specially designed car allows a person sitting in the vehicle to be turned upside down (Figure 2).

This demonstrates the importance of wearing a seat belt, and participants can practice unfastening their seat belts and freeing themselves after a road accident. “You can roughly imagine what you’re in for in the worst-case scenario, but here you experience it first hand. And you don’t want to experience that for real,” says Adolffs.

But it was not only the rollover simulator that made it clear to the participants how important a sense of responsibility, caution and mutual consideration are in road traffic. Other items on the agenda included a car driving simulator (Figure 3) that allows apprentices to practice driving under different conditions, a course of drunkenness goggles to simulate the influence of alcohol consumption in traffic, and a traffic table where the correct behaviour in typical traffic situations was discussed. Information on “Safety in Cycling” rounded off the wide range of topics.

Open communication

The activities provided the necessary impetus to steer one’s own behaviour in the right direction and to create a secure foundation for the future. However, open communication based on this, which goes beyond the road safety days, is all the more important. “It’s better for apprentices to call and say they’re going to be a little late because they overslept or still have to scrape ice off their car windows than to rush off and have an accident,” says Ringel. “It’s better to arrive ten minutes late than not at all! That’s what we’ve learned. And communicating this attitude internally is particularly important to us.”

The managers of RWE Power’s training centres are in no doubt: “The road safety days are a very important pillar of our prevention strategy. The activities complement each other very nicely,” explains Schmieglitz. “The content is conveyed well, precisely because of the practical action media, because of the playful way. Fun meets important knowledge transfer – and that’s how it bears fruit. It doesn’t get any better than that!”

And the fact that “it bears fruit” is ultimately the most important thing. Because in the end, it’s about saving lives. The road safety days can be held before employees get into critical situations. “We don’t know how many accidents we’ll be able to prevent as a result. But if it’s just one, then we’ve achieved everything,” says Ringel. And that’s why the next action days are already being planned for autumn 2024. Then the new apprentices, who began their first year of training in August, are made aware of important road safety issues.