Every year more than 1,700 people die on UK roads, and another 30,000 receive serious, life-changing injuries. As a distribution company, a huge part of LWC’s business operations involve road usage, with hundreds of our drivers out in their vans and lorries every day, delivering to our customers. Unfortunately, this puts us at a significantly increased risk of accidents on the road, which could have devastating consequences.
Road Safety Awareness Week takes place every November, aiming to raise awareness of the devastating impact of road crashes, share important road safety messages and highlight the incredible work of those who support road victims.
As a business that takes the health and safety of both its colleagues and the public incredibly seriously, LWC decided to do something a little different to mark Road Safety Awareness Week and launched a national design competition with a twist… only the children or young relations of our drivers and distribution colleagues could enter!
Tasked with five key road safety messages to focus on:
- Always wear your seatbelt
- Never use your mobile phone when at the wheel with your engine on
- Always use your load restraints correctly
- Always watch your speed and pay attention to the speed limit
- Always check and report vehicle defects as soon as they appear
The children quickly got to work, producing a range of incredible poster designs that were then submitted to a panel of judges – including our very own Managing Director and National operations Managers - for shortlisting. With almost 30 entries submitted from across our depots, shortlisting to just four was no mean feat for our judges. However, after much deliberation, entries by Manchester-based Larissa (age 14), Aylesbury’s Noah (age 8) Teesside’s Samuel (age 11) and Glamorgan’s Kaydence (age 7) were put forward as the final four. It was then over to the rest of LWC to vote for their winner!
Colleagues from across the business had a week to log onto Cheers - LWC’s internal communications, discount and rewards platform - and vote for their favourite design out of the top four. To say it was close would be an understatement, with just one vote between fist and second place, however, once voting had closed and the numbers were counted, the results were in:
1st place - Larissa (Manchester)
2nd place – Noah (Aylesbury)
3rd place – Samuel (Teesside)
4th place – Kaydence (Glamorgan)
Due to just how close the votes were for first and second place, and the age difference, the decision was taken to award a joint first place to Larissa and Noah, with both of them receiving the top prize.
Our Road Safety Awareness posters are now proudly on display across all of our depots, and will be for the rest of the week. Alongside this, road safety briefings are also taking place, focusing on our five key messages and encouraging everyone to really think about the importance of road safety and what we can do to make a difference.