Arriva won an award for Campaign of the Year at the Safety and Health Excellence Awards in Birmingham last night.
Arriva Merseyside’s Stop and Stay campaign was recognised for highlighting the dangers of crossing the road directly behind or in front of a bus.
The safety promotion featured posters on buses and a digital booklet for schools to encourage children to stop and wait after alighting a bus. The idea came from Matt Mort, Risk Manager for Arriva Merseyside.
Arriva Merseyside says that, before the campaign, it was aware of on average one road accident every three months involving a child who had just stepped off a bus and into oncoming traffic but that figures showed a drastic reduction afterwards.
At the event hosted by comedian Dara O’Briain, the operator beat opposition from 11 shortlisted businesses, including DHL Supply Chain and Skanska UK.
Richard Hoare, Arriva North West Area Director, says: “We are really proud of the work that Matt and his colleagues have done with this campaign.
“It’s wonderful to have been recognised for Stop and Stay campaign among our peers in the health and safety industry.
“However, the most important thing of all is that the campaign has had such a crucial impact on the safety of the people we serve in Merseyside day in, day out.
“Our aim as a business is not just to connect communities, but to do what we can to connect those communities safely and part of that is driving home the message that all our customers – no matter whether they’re children or adults – need to make sure they cross the road safely when they leave our buses.
“In this case, that message has got through and has effected a really positive change.”
Arriva plans to expand the campaign and, as part of this, has translated the material into Welsh.
Arriva Merseyside had also been shortlisted in the best risk driver management performance category.
