Our employees and contractors drove almost 1 billion km in 2013 – a distance equivalent to 70 times around the world every day. We transport fuel to customers, deliver equipment to construction projects and transport people to their work sites. Many of these journeys take place in countries with existing infrastructure and road safety standards that struggle to support the increasing demand for road transport.
We have programmes that train our drivers to recognise hazards and to anticipate errors from other road users to reduce road transport incidents. We enforce our global road safety standards and minimise our use of road transport when possible. We use technology, such as monitoring systems inside vehicles, to further improve driver behaviour and we recognise drivers for good practices.
We reached a new milestone in 2013 by achieving a full year without an employee or contractor road fatality. The number of road transport incidents with a potentially severe outcome was also reduced by over one-fifth compared with 2012. We believe that this success has been due to the enforcement of our road safety-related Life-Saving Rules: drivers must follow a prescribed plan for their journey; vehicle occupants must wear a seat belt; drivers must not use mobile phones while driving and must not exceed speed limits. We have been recognised for our road safety performance and, in 2013, received the Prince Michael International Road Safety award.
To help reduce the number of road transport incidents globally, we work with local authorities, non-governmental organisations and communities to implement road safety initiatives. We are a lead partner and funder of the Global Road Safety Partnership to improve road safety in low- and middle-income countries. We also support the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety by participating in projects at national and local level, focusing on high-risk environments.