Hyderabad: Concerned at the spate of accidents reported recently in the Madhapur division of Cyberabad area that is densely populated by techies, IT firms have been holding special training sessions for employees on road safety.
The Society of Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) is conducting training sessions in IT companies in association with the Cyberabad traffic police. Some other companies have been holding sessions on safe driving on their own.
Road safety awareness is essential for techies in particular as they typically spend about 1.5 hours on road while having to put in long hours of intense work in office. “Corporates spend large amounts to get on-board a talented employee. An injury to and employee translates into loss in man hours which in return affects the business. So companies find it necessary to look after their well-being and keep employees informed about things like road and fire safety, among others,” says a techie Mr N. Ashok. This is done mostly on the job as well as off-job.
While companies may see employees’ safety partly in the light of their own business, the SCSC conducts road safety awareness session to techies as part of social awareness. Mr Krishna Yedula, who heads the traffic segment of SCSC, says, “Some companies conduct training sessions by themselves, but most of them invite us to speak on the subject. We hold 90-120 minute sessions depending on size of the audience. We show the employees videos of accident that have occurred in Madhapur and Gachibowli area. These are the CCTV footages of the real-time accidents, so that they can relate to the location. This has a lot of impact. We also study the behaviour of the road users especially pedestrians as they tend to be at high risk for walking on or crossing roads casually.”
Some IT companies have set some mandatory compliance rules for the techies to follow. For instance, a person riding without a helmet is not allowed to park his vehicle at the space provided by the company. “It is good that companies have disciplinary measures for two-wheeler riders, but the same should also be in place for people driving cars. It’s not as if you are safe inside a car and need not bother about basic safety precautions for yourself and others,” says a techie Mr J. P. Chaitanya.
Meanwhile, cab drivers, who contribute the major portion of traffic to IT companies, are also given training in safe driving. Mr Yedula said, “SCSC runs a sensitisation program for cab drivers in league with Telangana Cab Drivers and Owners Association and the Cyberabad Traffic police. We train them on safe driving and polite behaviour. A lot of motivational talk goes into it.”
Additionally, companies have mandatory rules for cab drivers. With GPS tracking enabled in cabs, drivers cannot detour for the prescribed route especially when employees are on board are all women. Ms B. Priyanka says, “There are certain rules that even we employees have to adhere to. We cannot ask the driver to stop cab mid-way at eateries or anything like that during night-time. If a cab suffers a breakdown, employees have to stay inside the car till another cab comes in. Also, a security guard accompanies the cab driver if it is carrying only women or the last drop is that of a woman employee.”
SAFETY NET
- Traffic wing of SCSC has sensitised 14,000 cab drivers in 2 years.
- SCSC conducted road safety workshops for 24,000 employees.
- There are mandatory rules for cab drivers to follow while picking up and dropping employees.
- Some IT companies have set mandatory compliance rules for the techies to follow.
