95 Alive
Migrant Workers CD
A new CD aimed at helping migrant workers stay safe on roads in North Yorkshire has been produced by road safety campaigners.
Nine people have died in crashes involving migrant workers on the County's roads since 2006. The CD's been produced by 95 Alive the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership. It's been made in Polish initially but the aim is to translate it into six other languages by the end of the year
Over 1,000 migrant workers were asked for their opinions about driving on Britain 's roads before the CD was made. This gave the producers a good idea of what might be confusing and what could be contributing to collisions.
The most important thing was to get the Polish translation absolutely right and to do this 95 alive teamed up with Industrious, a specialist partner that provides work opportunities across Britain and supports integration and development of multicultural workforces.
The aim was to make the CD informative and easy to watch with some graphic images to get the crucial road safety messages across.
It covers all aspects of driving in Britain from documentation to road signs, speed limits and the rules and laws of the road.
North Yorkshire County Councillor John Fort, Executive Member for Road Safety said: "This goes a long way to help visitors who are working in this country to understand and appreciate the differences in driving on the roads.
"The numbers of people killed and seriously injured on our roads is at it's lowest since the County Council started keeping records in 1980, but we can't be complacent. A lot of work has been put into cutting down the numbers of casualties, and it's resources like this CD that can help make a difference."
A series of workshops is being held around the County where copies of the CD will be distributed. The first one was held at Northern Foods' Dalepak site at Leeming Bar near Northallerton this week .
Dariusz Budzik from Industrious said:"I have been in England for three years. I had 20 years driving experience in Poland , it was very hard when I came over here to drive on the other side of the road and I wasn't sure about the roundabouts and the speed limits.
"I wish this information had been available then, I think this CD is very valuable , Polish people will really benefit because it is clear and straightforward, they can take it home with them.
Artur Hercun from Northern Foods said: "It was a very useful presentation. When I came here three years ago I took my test over here in England to get my driving licence. There are a lot of differences, there is zero tolerance to drink driving in Poland it is not allowed at all. To get all the information you need is very difficult and I think this CD will be a big help telling people what they need to know. "
Alicja Sobiesak, Product Development Manager from Industrious said: "Supporting the 95 Alive campaign has been of great importance to Industrious as we work with multicultural workforces and ensuring their welfare is our priority. Our objective was to make sure that the material was not only translated but also adapted in such a way that it was relevant and practical to the drivers for whom English was not their first language.
Jack Hammond , General Manager at Northern Foods' Dalepak site, said: "This has been a good project for Northern Foods to support. We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to make a real difference to safety in Yorkshire , both for our employees and other road users. The added bonus is that we can now roll this across all of our site in the UK ."
For more information or a copy of the CD contact:
John Everson - 95 Alive Partnership Coordinator on 01609 533086
Janet Gleeson - 95 Alive Campaign Coordinator on 01609 798304
About 95 ALIVE
The 95 Alive York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership is a partnership of local authorities, emergency services and other agencies that have a common interest and duty to reduce the number of people who are killed and injured on the roads of York and North Yorkshire. They have set themselves a target to save an additional 95 lives by the end of 2010. This is over and above the 40 per cent reduction in casualties that is already demanded of them by Government.
You can view an English-Polish 95 Alive pocket guide here
