Total Achieves Four-Year Milestones in Road Safety

By Peter Uzoho

Total Nigeria Plc has highlighted significant milestones it recorded in the area of road safety in Nigeria in the last four years, which it attributed to its Truck Drivers’ Initiative.

Total explained that the initiative which was set up against the backdrop of serious concerns about the state of trucks and drivers conveying petroleum products on Nigerian roads, was improving road safety in Nigeria with continuous training and audits.

The company disclosed at a recent online parley with journalists that it had conducted 2,181 truck driver training and 2,740 truck audits at its training facility in Ibadan, Oyo State between 2017 and 2020.

It said it also helped other players to conduct 2,149 truck audits between 2018 and 2020.

The company noted that the effort had resulted in zero fatalities and severe accidents, zero lost time injury and zero spill in cubic metres, amongst its drivers since 2017.

The petroleum products marketing company also revealed that its truck drivers training had ensured, “Improved defensive driving skills.
Reduction of road accidents caused by driver behaviour and truck breakdown.

“Handling of dangerous goods during transportation and public enlightenment on road safety topics; and Government regulatory agencies’ campaigns.”

Providing more insight into the Total downstream’s activities, the Executive General Manager, Total Country Services, Bunmi Popoola-Mordi , noted that one of the areas that the company had been contributing enormously in the country was in the area of road safety.

She said the parley was not only intended to highlight the contributions of the company to road safety but to inform and galvanise stakeholders in order to get feedback for continuous improvement.

Fielding questions on the Truck Drivers Initiative, the General Manager, HSEQ Mr. Muhyideen Nuradeen, maintained that while the company was in the business of making profit, it was more interested in saving lives.

He added that the company was also interested in making the roads as safe as possible and making sure drivers returned safely to their families and loved ones at the end of each business day.

However, the company explained that its stakeholders including the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), were being involved in the initiative.

In his remarks, the Country Communication Manager, Total, Dr. Charles Ebereonwu, who moderated the session, expressed optimism that the initiative would progress to a level where the country would achieve a critical mass of trained, professional drivers and quality trucks to eliminate road safety hazards associated with trucking petroleum products.

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