Kate Cairns, CLOCS instigator and member of our Strategy, Standards and Governance Board, recently spoke at a HS2 Project EDWARD (Every Day Without A Road Death) event, as keynote speaker on the importance of reducing road risk and the cost of complacency.

In 2009 Kate’s sister, Eilidh Cairns, was riding her usual 10 mile commute through London when she was struck from behind by a tipper lorry. Eilidh died 2 hours later in the Royal London Hospital trauma unit.

The driver said he did not see her. 15 months later the same driver fatally struck a woman on a pedestrian crossing. Since her sister’s death, Kate has worked tirelessly across the UK and Europe to advocate for safety improvements in the construction industry addressing not just vehicles and drivers but organisational culture and risk management. There has been much progress in the last decade but there is still a long way to go.

#projectEDWARD

Project EDWARD is an annual UK-wide road safety campaign backed by government, the emergency services, highways agencies, road safety organisations and British businesses. The Campaign, Managed by ARRM and RoadSafe, promotes an evidence-led, ‘safe system’ approach – the long-term objective of which is a road traffic system free from death and serious injury.

The project advocates these key Safe System Strategies:

• Safety conscious road planning, design and engineering
• Promoting vehicles with collision avoidance & injury mitigation systems
• Deterring dangerous behaviour and ensuring compliance: education & enforcement
• Managing speeds to crash survival levels
• Fast and efficient emergency medical help, diagnosis and care

Kate Cairns

Kate cairns – an experienced professional speaker – received a fantastic response from delegates at the event and prompted many questions and discussions within and beyond the session about what more HS2 can do to improve road risk management and community safety.

Delegate Malcolm Wilson, Undertakings and Assurances Manager for HS2, responded, “this was one of the most profound and thought-provoking presentations I’ve ever heard. If you get the chance, listen to her, and learn.”

The construction industry can easily prevent further tragedies from happening by taking action today. Make sure you are supporting Project EDWARD and working towards the CLOCS Standard with effective and up-to-date Construction Logistics Plans. Good planning saves companies time, money, and reputations but most importantly it saves lives.

Connect with Kate on LinkedIn, or through cairnsconsultancy for speaker bookings and to keep updated on road risk management issues.

Find out more about Project Edward here