Yesterday, Balfour Beatty, in partnership with Abbeyfield Secondary School, created a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for most people wearing high-visibility vests, 1543 people beat the previous record (1475) by 68 people.
The record breaking achievement was held to help raise the profile of this year’s national Road Safety Week, coordinated by Brake the road safety charity, to encourage grassroots action on road safety and raise awareness of the part we can all play in preventing road crashes.
The record breakers included Balfour Beatty employees, Abbeyfield School students and staff, Balfour Beatty supply chain colleagues from A-Plant and Greenhams, members of Northamptonshire Police and students and staff from the local primary school, Queen Eleanor, who all gathered in their high visibility vests at the Northampton school.
As well as the record breaking event, Balfour Beatty hosted presentations on the importance of road safety and a road safety signage competition for students with the winning signs to be used on Balfour Beatty sites.
The record breaking attempt was inspired by the memory of 13 year old Sophie Bywaters, an Abbeyfield School student who was tragically killed crossing the road whilst returning from a Youth Club in 2009.
Dean Banks, Balfour Beatty Managing Director UK Construction, said: “We’re proud to support Road Safety Week and have done so for several years with a wide range of events in schools, service stations and supermarkets throughout the UK.
“The safety of the public and our workforce is always Balfour Beatty’s primary concern and through our zero harm initiative we strive to ensure everyone goes home safe every day. We use Road Safety Week as a platform to highlight to our employees and the local communities in which we operate, the importance of road safety and awareness.”
Balfour Beatty has held events from Exeter to Glasgow as part of Road Safety week. The events focus on alerting people to the risks faced by road workers and how to minimise those risks when driving.
ENDS
Media enquiries to:
Antonia Edwards
Balfour Beatty
T: +44(0)191 228 2715
M: +44 (0) 7813363166
E: Antonia.edwards@balfourbeatty.com
Notes to Editors:
Balfour Beatty (www.balfourbeatty.com) is a leading international infrastructure group. With 36,000 employees, we provide innovative and efficient infrastructure that underpins our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth. We finance, develop, build and maintain complex infrastructure such as transportation, power and utility systems, social and commercial buildings.
Our main geographies are the UK, US, Middle East and South East Asia. Over the last 100 years we have created iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including the London Olympics’ Aquatic Centre, Hong Kong’s first Zero Carbon building, the world’s biggest shopping mall in Dubai, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in the US and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
Brake notes to editors:
Brake is a national road safety charity that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries that happen on roads every day, make streets and communities safer for everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. Brake promotes road safety awareness, safe and sustainable road use, and effective road safety policies. We do this through national campaigns, community education, services for road safety professionals and employers, and by coordinating the UK's flagship road safety event every November, Road Safety Week. Brake is a national, government-funded provider of support to families and individuals devastated by road death and serious injury, including through a helpline and support packs. Brake was founded in the UK in 1995, and now has domestic operations in the UK and New Zealand, and works globally to promote action on road safety. Follow Brake on Twitter, Facebook, or The Brake Blog.
Road crashes are not accidents; they are devastating and preventable events, not chance mishaps. Calling them accidents undermines work to make roads safer, and can cause insult to families whose lives have been torn apart by needless casualties.
Road Safety Week notes to editors:
Road Safety Week is the UK’s flagship event to promote safer road use, coordinated annually by the charity Brake and involving thousands of schools, communities and organisations across the country. Road Safety Week 2015 takes place 23-29 November, with support from the Department for Transport and headline sponsors AIG and Specsavers.
