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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