General News: New ISO standard for road safety

Date: 21 March 2008

ISO develops new management system standard for improving road safety on global level.

ISO has just approved the creation of a new project committee to develop an international standard for road traffic safety management systems.

The secretariat of the project committee, ISO/PC 241, Road safety management, has been assigned to SIS Swedish Standards Institute, and its first meeting is expected to be held in Stockholm, 16-19 June 2008.

ISO/PC 241 will bring together stakeholders including representatives of organisations responsible for road traffic infrastructure, public authorities, government departments, the transport sector, manufacturers, emergency services, health services and the variety of associations concerned by aspects of road safety (e.g. prevention of accidents, protection of children, care of and rights of accident victims).

The committee's job will be to develop a standard following the generic management system approach pioneered by ISO 9001:2000 for quality management and since applied to other objectives, including ISO 14001 (environmental management) and ISO 28000 (supply chain security).

Structured, holistic approach

ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden commented: "As was highlighted at the 2nd United Nations Stakeholder Forum on Global Road Safety, in which ISO participated, in April 2007, road crashes kill more than 1.2 million a year, and for every single death there are 20 to 50 serious injuries. Road traffic injuries also impede economic development, with costs to emerging economies from fatalities and disabling injuries estimated at 1-2% of GNP.

"ISO already contributes to many aspects of road safety with more than 200 standards related to this field. The new standard to be developed by ISO/PC 241 will provide a structured, holistic approach to road safety that will complement government and industry programmes and initiatives. Backed by international agreement, it will help to fulfill the UN's objective of improving global road safety, e.g. by providing public services and private companies operating fleets of vehicles, including for transportation services, freight and car rentals, with a specific and globally recognised safety management system standard."

The future standard will be applicable to all actors with an influence on road safety, including companies and organisations involved in:

• the design, building and maintenance of roads and streets
• the design and production of cars, lorries and other road vehicles, including parts and equipment
• the transport of goods and people
• generating significant flows of goods and people
• having personnel working in road transport systems
• responding to road traffic accidents (emergency and first aid services)
• rehabilitation of accident victims

Potential users of the standard include transport and haulage companies, rental car companies and local government organisations responsible for the transport of goods and people.

The standard will provide a holistic approach to road traffic safety. The intention is to help organizations:

• improve their performance in relation to road safety
• contribute to reducing accidents
• better meet regulatory requirements and societal expectations regarding road safety
• employ a process approach, including the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and continual improvement, to set and achieve road safety objectives

In addition, the standard may provide an internationally harmonised tool useful for organisations involved in:

• auditing the effectiveness of road safety programmes
• analysing accident black spots
• providing funding or awarding prizes for road safety

ISO/PC 241 will work in the area of management system standards only. It will not encroach on regulatory responsibilities but seek to be complementary to the road safety work of intergovernmental organisations such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the World Health Organization. In particular, it will work in close collaboration with the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration, of which ISO is already a member.

For further information, please visit the ISO website at http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1113