91
Good Practice
Human Rights
Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
In 2004 a program was launched within
the company aimed at raising awareness
about the driving culture while creating
safe conditions for the transportation of
people and cargo. The program includes
daily road-safety monitoring, vehicle com-
pliance control, close engagement with
contractors and subcontractors, Defensive
Driving Training, use of the In-Vehicle
Monitoring System, among other things.
However, road traffic is a “multi-player
game.” The success of a program that
is only focused on an isolated group of
participants – for example employees –
will always be limited. An important ob-
jective of the Sakhalin Energy road safety
program is to spread high standards for
corporate road safety beyond the company
and its contractors. This is implemented
via the Sakhalin Road Safety Partnership,
initiated by the company back in 2005.
The first step toward the creation of a
partnership programaimed at improving
the situation on the roads of Sakhalin
was the workshop arranged by Sakhalin
Energy in March 2005. It was supported
by the Sakhalin Oblast Government and
the Global Road Safety Partnership, with
the participation of more than 60 repre-
sentatives from 25 government organiza-
tions and businesses.
In June 2005, the Sakhalin government,
the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well
as businesses and the public joined to-
gether to sign the Agreement on Sakhalin
Road Safety Partnership. This officially
confirmed their intention to work to-
gether toward the improvement of road
safety in the Sakhalin Oblast. In 2011
the partnership was transformed into
the Sakhalin Road Safety Council, the
primary function of which is to build
a platform for cooperation among the
stakeholders and thereby create a favora-
ble environment for the development
and implementation of social projects.
The projects should help to decrease the
number of injuries and deaths from car
accidents as well as the overall number
of accidents, and encourage a culture of
safe road behavior for all road traffic par-
ticipants. Since 2005, the partners have
implemented several major projects. The
key to their success in these efforts has
been the comprehensive support given
by all the participants of the partnership.
•
The goal of the long-term and large-
scale seatbelt promotional campaign
called “Choose Life – Buckle Up!” is to
enhance the awareness of drivers and
passengers in regards to the benefits
of seatbelts. In different years and at
different stages, it has included dif-
ferent components and has thus been
continuously expanded. Since 2012 this
project has become part of a complex
educational and informational area of
activities. The project is an open contest
for the development and implementa-
tion of the best promotional campaign
for the use of restraints (seatbelts and
children booster chairs). Symbolically,
Sakhalin Energy employees and their
family members participate in promo-
tion campaigns as volunteers.
•
The project “A Safe Road to School”
started in 2006 due to problems concern-
ing school students’ safety on Sakhalin
roads. The goals of the project were
to reduce the injury rate of children
involved in car accidents; to unite the ef-
forts of the road police officers, teachers,
and parents; and to increase road-safety
awareness in the area. Under this project,
the schools of the Sakhalin Oblast re-
ceived visual aids and “safe school route”
maps indicating dangerous sections of
the streets and roads. All the materials
were developed after having taken local
habits into consideration. This gave the
students an opportunity to study traffic
regulations using practical examples,
and to provide insights on their actual
daily routes.
•
The international experience shows
that first aid provided right on the spot
plays the main role in rescuing human
life and preserving health. This is the
reason why training programs should
work to improve the awareness and
first-aid skills of road police officers and
nurses. First aid is a priority method,
as it helps to reduce the occurrence of
death and injury. The Council supported
first-aid training seminars to help in the
response to injuries and heart attacks.
Each yearmore than 70medics take part
in these training seminars. Moreover,
135
first-aid kits were granted to the
Road Traffic Safety Inspection office
for placement in police cars.
•
On a contest basis six Sakhalin schools
receivedmodern equipment for tutorial
road safety classes. Significantly, under
the terms of the contest, the schools
will implement special road safety pro-
grams for children and parents as part
of their normal educational activities,
as well as organize road safety events
for other schools.
• “
Be Bright! Be seen!” is a promotional
project encouraging Sakhalin young
people to wear light-reflecting stickers
on their clothing. The main characters
of all the promotion materials and
events are break dancers of the group
very popular among the Sakhalin teen-
agers and youth.
•
Over the years different events were
arranged under The World Day of Re-
membrance for Road Traffic Victims.
Themain accomplishment of the partner-
ship has been a decrease in car accidents
and injuries. These figures are dropping
slowly but steadily. According to the
Road Traffic Safety Inspection office of
the Sakhalin Oblast, when compared to
the figures for 2011, the number of car
accidents in the region in 2012 declined
by 3.3 percent; the number of deaths
decreased by 2.4 percent; and the num-
ber of people injured in car accidents
dropped by 0.1 percent.
The UN General Assembly proclaimed
the period 2011 - 2020 as the Decade of
Action for Road Safety. The Secretary-
General called on States, civil society,
business and communities to ensure that
it will lead to real improvements. The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
guarantees everyone the fundamental
right to life, liberty and security of person.
Should road safety be recognized as a
part of it? To answer this is unalienable
right and responsibility of all members
of the human family.