PDO on the 16th August 2009 launched the latest version of its SP2000 Road Safety Standard. The release follows a five stage consultation exercise which took place over seven months and resulted in over 150 improvements and relaxations to the standards which have been endorsed by the MDC and Decision Review Board.

The key changes will only affect new contracts with the introduction of improved safety standards for commuting buses in 2010 and the requirement for all vehicles to have GPRS in vehicle monitoring systems (IVMS) installed and managed appropriately to improve driving behaviour.

The opportunity was also taken to tidy up many of the issues which were unclear in the previous versions and some best practice principles adopted many of which were requested by our contractor community or resulted from learnings from accidents.

All Contract Holders will be formally issuing out the new SP2000 to their contractors over the next week or so. If you do not receive anything soon then please be proactive and request it from your Contract Holder.

Please note that the system which enforces the application of Safety Defaults for contractors whose employees are found to be breaking the road safety rules by speeding, not wearing seatbelts or driving on the mobile phones will only be enforced after one month to enable all staff to be briefed as to the increased consequences for contractors.

We want all of our staff and contractors to drive appropriately and to get back home safely at the end of the working day, again and again and again. The new standards are designed to aid management to help their staff achieve this.

The new SP2000 can be found at the following web links.

http://sww1.pdo.shell.om/dept/cd/csm/blocks/documentation/hsedocs.htm
http://www.pdo.co.om/hseforcontractors/blocks/documentation/hsedocs.htm

http://sww1.pdo.shell.om/dept/cd/csm/dts/default.htm?ddchome.htm&ddc
http://www.pdo.co.om/hseforcontractors/dts/default.htm?ddchome.htm&ddc