A seminar on
Safety of transporting dangerous cargo concluded at Movenpick Hotel
Karachi with the signing of a charter by leadaing OMCs like Shell, TOTAL, PSO,
HASCOL and Byco. The Seminar was held by Automobile Corporation of Pakistan
(Autocom) in collaboration with government regulatory authorities, leading Oil
Marketing Companies and renowned national/international experts.
Autocom, being a
leading manufacturer of a wide range of road-transport solutions, conducted
this event to raise awareness about the importance of using safe and certified
equipment manufactured on UN ADR Standards, for the Carriage of Dangerous Goods
by Road and many notable personalities from the petroleum sector, domestic
and international, participated in the Seminar.
Mr. Khayam
Husain, the managing director of Automobile Corporation of Pakistan, delivered
the welcome note and stressed the importance of ensuring safety measures on
dangerous cargo while transporting them in Pakistan and there needs to be
prudent monitoring of the drivers and the equipment used in transportation of
such cargo.
Mr. Ameer
Hussain, program manager at RTIRPC, gave eye opening statistics of carriage
accidents on roads, its implications and root cause of these incidents which
are preventable. He stated "road accidents are mostly underreported and
there are around 30 thousand to 35 thousand road accidents annually only in
Karachi, he also stated that the action plan to prevent such incidents should
be revised to ensure safety of human lives". This was followed by a
presentation by Managing director of Normec, Vittorio Molino (an Italian company).
Focused on advanced equipments needed for tankers, this not only ensures the
safety of the cargo but also the operator.
This was
followed by an interactive panel discussion on Key factors for road safety and
best practices. The panelist, Asif Ansari, logistic manager at Shell; Nawed
Tanwir Abbasi, Manager transport safety at Total; and Amir Butt, General
manager logistic at Hascol, introduced cost effective solutions to help
mitigate road accidents and cargo leakages. Moreover, back and forth interaction
between the audience and the panelist unlocked new solutions on preventing the
road incidents.
After this GASSO
and SAF- international transportation equipment companies, introduced their
equipments which make tankers' liquid loading and unloading safer and save
time. Moreover, they also emphasized the importance of electronic braking and
electronic stability systems in road tankers and trailers, assist the drivers
for safer transport and reduce fatalities on the road.
Another Panel
discussion between the regulators started off on role of the regulators in
keeping the roads safe. The panelist included, Mr. Naeemullah, Chief Patrol
Officer National Highway & Mortor way Police; Mr. Muhammad IItaf, from Oil
and Gas Regulator Authority; Dr. Omar Masood Qureshi from Ministry of
Communications and Mr. Tariq Ejaz Chaudry, CEO Engineering Board of
Development. The Panelists discussed about the importance of these times, as
Pakistan is going through major economic regulatory and infrastructure development
due to the CPEC in action. They also urged the revision of the regulations on
road transportation safety. The audience during the Panel discussion made the
session tremendously interactive and discussed how oil companies are working
with the regulatory authorities to implement road transport safety measures.
The final
presentation was made by Ms. Sumaiyah Murtaza, from WABCO Germany. She stressed
on the importance of adopting new technologies for vehicles that ensure safety
measures and stated that; systems like EBS (Electronic Braking System) are
becoming popular to avoid rollovers in petroleum tankers.
Finally the
signing of Charter for road safety ceremony was launched as part of the
seminar. The charter was between Oil marketing companies and major stakeholders
and the purpose was to plan operations to ensure that safety obligations are
met; while promoting driver compliance with the law; encouraging drivers
training at levels above the minimum legal standards; ensure vehicles are safe
and well maintained; and to promote the health of workforce.
The Seminar came
to an end with closing remarks by Mr. Khayam, who thanked all the local and
international participants and promised to work for the betterment of road
safety and regulation in Pakistan.
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