Cities, LOVE20, LOVE30, Safeguard, Transportation, Urban Planning

At AECOM, safety is paramount in all we do. It is an essential part of our culture and a key component of one of our core values, Safeguard. Our employees are encouraged to implement safety practices when they are on the job and away from work. At work, this can be in the form of safety planning, analyzing significant incidents or developing new procedures for changing conditions. At home this could be as simple as reporting non-work-related safety issues so the organization can learn from everyone’s experience. This all works to make AECOM and our communities a safer place.

As part of our continued focus on safety, we’re demonstrating our commitment to road safety by supporting the 6th Annual United Nations Global Road Safety Week. Simply put, low speed streets save lives. This year’s U.N. program focuses on keeping the streets and roadways safe where we live, work and play. There is considerable focus and urgency on this issue because everyone deserves the safety of low-speed, livable streets, which can have an effect on public health through the reduction of injury causing vehicle accidents and impact climate change by reducing vehicle emissions. This focus can also promote social and racial equality as a large portion of speed-related incidents occur in underserved communities.

Speeding is one of the top causes of roadway incidents around the globe, and as a globally focused organization, AECOM has signed the “Streets for Life: For People and Planet” open letter that calls on policymakers to act for low speed streets worldwide, limiting speeds to 20 mph (30 km/h) where people walk, live and play.

As the world’s premier infrastructure consulting firm, AECOM has helped conceptualize, develop, construct and operate transportation and roadway infrastructure projects around the world — from Honolulu to Hong Kong, and from Mumbai to Memphis to Melbourne. We have always placed a strong focus on roadway safety both in design and execution.

To achieve this, we have developed procedures and systems that include driver safety training for our more frequent business drivers, journey management planning, and design and quality checks. We’ve brought in foremost industry experts — the best and brightest from around the world to ensure that we continue to provide the high-quality expertise and delivery our clients expect from us, with an unwavering focus on safety. Road and driving safety is of particular importance to our company due to our exposure to the risk associated with it. Specifically, despite our project and geographical diversity, driving is one of the few risks that everyone is exposed to regardless of business.

You can learn more about the U.N.’s Global Road Safety Week by visiting the program’s website and you can view the open letter here.

Originally published May 18, 2021

Author: Devon Molitor