The study “Introduction to safe loading and unloading” by the Hellenic Institute of Occupational Health and Safety was put together by Vassilis Goumas of Diodos SA, tasked as the Technical Advisor.<\/p>\n
Here is an excerpt from the study’s preface:<\/p>\n
“… Every year, according to a European Commission statement, the 1,300,000 road accidents on the roads of the European Union (EU) result in more than 40,000 deaths and 1,700,000 injuries. The total cost is estimated at 160 Bil. Euro, or about 2% of the EU’s GDP. For this reason, the Commission has proposed in the White Paper on European Transport Policy that the EU should set a goal to reduce the number of deaths by half by 2010. All Member-States face similar road safety problems, namely, excessive speed, alcohol consumption, not using seat belts, insufficient protection, the presence of “black spots” in sight, non-observance of rest times by commercial drivers and, of course,\u00a0 poor visibility.
\nParticularly for the safe transport of goods, the European Commission has set a goal for “reducing the number of accidents caused by trucks, by regulating the training of professional drivers and adhering to driving versus rest time”, with the main measures for implementation : \u201cthe strengthening of the provisions of the legislation concerning the working conditions of professional drivers, the introduction of the digital tachograph in commercial vehicles, the adaptation to the technical progress of the Community legislation for the transport of dangerous goods, etc … ”<\/p>\n