FIA launches index to help bodies improve safety footprint

The index offers a systematic approach to identify organisations’ value chains and assess how traffic safety is affected by their range of services or products. It is built on a rating system which helps evaluate to what extent an organisation is managing its safety impact.

Before its official launch, the Road Safety Index project began in 2020 with a feasibility study that to define a prototype. Since the autumn of 2021, Autoliv, Ikea, TotalEnergies, the Swedish transport administration Trafikverket, and two FIA Clubs, the Automobile Club Association (ACA – France) and the Automóvil Club del Uruguay (ACU) have taken part in six pilot projects.

“The implementation of safe system principles into the value chain and operations of public and private organisations everywhere is a game changer for global road safety”

The pilot phase finalised the detailed methodology for the first three stages of the six-step evaluation that is now available to all organisations around the world.

“Autoliv’s vision is ‘saving more lives’. The implementation of safe system principles into the value chain and operations of public and private organisations everywhere is a game changer for global road safety,” said Dr Cecilia Sunnevang, VP research of automotive safety supplier, Autoliv.

“The FIA Road Safety Index is the first practical proposal of how this might be done and evaluated. Being part of piloting and refining the FIA Road Safety Index has reconfirmed how important this approach will be, but also brought to light the practical challenges of implementing it.”

“It is my hope that responsible businesses will embrace it to measure their safety footprint and that, ultimately, it will enable to improve safety worldwide”

“Safety is fundamental in Ikea supply chain operations. We recognise our shared responsibility to enhance road safety and to achieve global road safety goals as outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” added Elisabeth Munck af Rosenschöld, supply chain operations sustainability manager, Ikea.

“One area that we focus on right now is incident reporting and measuring our road safety footprint. To gain speed, we took part in the pilot of the FIA Road Safety Index. Our ambition is that, together with other companies, we can benchmark and learn from each other.”

FIA reports the methodology will be further expanded in 2023, thanks to the support of the FIA Foundation, and will include specific modules to increase the safety of employees, contractors, third parties, and clients or customers.