Course Title

1. Introduction to Road Safety

• Global and regional road traffic crash statistics including (WHO estimates of 1.35 million annual road deaths, Middle East road fatality rates, and the disproportionate impact of occupational road risk on organizational incident rates)

• The Safe System Approach to road safety including (the four pillars — safe roads and roadsides, safe speeds, safe vehicles, and safe road users — and the shared responsibility model between individuals, organizations, and road authorities)

• Overview of ISO 39001: Road Traffic Safety (RTS) Management Systems including (its purpose, applicability to all organizations that interact with the road traffic system, and the PDCA-based improvement cycle for road traffic safety management)

• Organizational road safety obligations including (duty of care to drivers, fleet safety policy requirements, driver authorization and competency verification, and regulatory compliance with local traffic law)

• The human factor in road traffic crashes including (driver behavior as the primary contributing factor in the majority of crashes — and the role of training in modifying unsafe driving habits)

2. Hazard Perception and Defensive Driving

• Applying Hazard Perception and Risk Assessment (HPRA) to driving including (scanning techniques, developing hazard anticipation skills, identifying developing hazards versus immediate hazards, and responding with appropriate time and space margins)

• Defensive Driving principles including (assuming other road users will make errors, maintaining a minimum two-second following distance — extended to four seconds in adverse conditions, scanning 12–15 seconds ahead, and the commentary driving technique for hazard verbalization)

• Speed management including (the relationship between speed and stopping distance, impact force at different collision speeds, speed limit compliance, and selecting appropriate speed for road and traffic conditions rather than simply driving to the posted limit)

• Overtaking and lane discipline including (safe overtaking decision criteria, blind spot management, mirror-signal-maneuver discipline, and lane discipline on multi-lane highways common to GCC road environments)

• Intersection and roundabout safety including (approach speed reduction, right-of-way rules, checking for non-compliant road users, and managing the elevated collision risk at intersections in urban Middle East driving environments)

• Night driving and low visibility conditions including (headlight use, increased following distance at night, managing glare from oncoming vehicles, and the additional hazard profile of desert road driving in fog or dust storm conditions)

3. Crash Causation — Fatigue, Distraction, and Impairment

• Driver fatigue recognition and management including (physiological signs of fatigue, the danger of microsleep at highway speeds, circadian rhythm effects on alertness, and fatigue management strategies for long-distance and shift-working drivers)

• Mobile phone and in-vehicle distraction including (reaction time increase with handheld and hands-free phone use, the cognitive distraction of phone conversations, and prohibition on all non-essential device use during driving)

• Impairment from alcohol, prescription medication, and heat stress including (the zero-tolerance approach to alcohol in GCC jurisdictions, medication side-effect awareness before driving, and the physiological impact of dehydration and extreme heat on driver alertness and reaction time)

• Speeding as a crash cause including (the cultural normalization of speeding on GCC highways, organizational speed limit policies, and the role of telematics in identifying and correcting speeding behavior)

• Emotional and psychological factors in driving including (aggressive driving triggers, road rage recognition and de-escalation, and the impact of stress and personal distraction on driving performance)

4. Journey Planning and Vehicle Safety

• Structured journey planning including (route assessment — road type, traffic conditions, and known hazard zones — rest stop scheduling at maximum two-hour intervals for long-distance journeys, estimated arrival time management, and alternative route identification)

• Pre-departure vehicle inspection including (tyre condition and pressure check — critical in extreme heat environments, fluid level verification, brake function check, lighting and indicator function, and seatbelt condition and function for all seats)

• Vehicle load and passenger safety including (load securing requirements, prohibition on overloading, child restraint requirements, and seatbelt compliance for all occupants)

• Fleet vehicle safety requirements in accordance with ISO 39001 including (roadworthiness standards, scheduled maintenance compliance, telematics installation, and driver authorization records)

• Adverse condition journey planning including (sandstorm and fog driving protocol — reduce speed, increase following distance, activate hazard lights — and extreme heat vehicle preparation including cooling system checks and emergency water supply)

5. Special Driving Environments and Vulnerable Road Users

• Highway and expressway driving safety including (merging and exiting technique, overtaking on high-speed roads, managing sudden stops in high-speed traffic, and the elevated fatality risk of high-speed rear-end collisions)

• Construction and industrial site driving including (site speed limits, pedestrian exclusion zone awareness, reversing safety — use of a banksman, and interaction with heavy vehicles and plant equipment on shared site roads)

• Reversing and parking safety including (the disproportionate contribution of reversing to workplace driving incidents, use of mirrors and cameras, and the requirement for a banksman in blind reversing situations)

• Vulnerable road user awareness including (pedestrian behavior prediction at crossing points, cyclist and motorcyclist blind spot management, and the particular vulnerability of pedestrians near construction sites and in urban commercial areas in Middle East environments)

• Driving unfamiliar vehicles including (familiarization requirements before driving an unfamiliar vehicle type, adjusting mirrors and controls, and understanding the handling differences between personal and fleet vehicles — particularly SUVs and light commercial vehicles common in the region)

6. HSE, Quality, and Organizational Road Safety Management

• Integration of road safety within the organizational Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) management system including (road traffic risk in the organizational risk register, driver safety policy, and journey management plan requirements)

• Journey Management Planning (JMP) as an HSE control including (pre-journey authorization for high-risk journeys, driver fatigue assessment, check-in and check-out communication protocol, and escalation procedure for overdue drivers)

• Road traffic safety KPIs in accordance with ISO 39001 including (crash rate per million kilometers, near-miss reporting rate, seatbelt compliance rate, speeding event frequency, and vehicle maintenance compliance)

• Quality assurance in fleet and driver management including (driver competency records, vehicle inspection logs, telematics data review, and incident investigation documentation)

• Continuous improvement in organizational road safety including (Plan-Do-Check-Act — PDCA applied to road safety performance, lessons learned integration from crash investigations, and fleet safety benchmarking)

7. Emergency Response and Case Studies

• Road traffic crash response procedures including (immediate scene safety actions — hazard warning lights, warning triangle placement at safe distance — calling emergency services, and preventing secondary collisions)

• Basic first aid at the scene of a road traffic crash including (approaching the scene safely, primary survey of casualties, managing an unconscious casualty, and the recovery position for non-spinal injured unconscious victims)

• Vehicle breakdown management including (safely exiting to the roadside, activating hazard lights, placing warning triangles, remaining outside the vehicle on high-speed roads, and contacting fleet or roadside assistance)

• Case studies from road traffic incidents in Middle East workplace and operational environments including (construction project fleet fatalities on desert highways, worker transport vehicle rollover incidents, and near-miss events from fatigue on long-distance site commute routes) and the importance of proper road safety training in protecting driver and passenger lives and reducing organizational road traffic liability

• Group discussion on road safety culture challenges in professional environments including (peer pressure to speed on GCC highways, journey time pressure overriding safe driving behavior, and the organizational responsibility to empower drivers to refuse unsafe journey instructions)