irtec highly commended for industry award25 June 2013

irtec, IRTE's technician licensing scheme for the road transport industry, recently received top recognition from road safety charity Brake.

The Brake Fleet Safety Awards recognise those working to help reduce the number of road crashes. The charity is an advocate of vehicle maintenance, including the training and qualification of vehicle technicians.

irtec was highly commended for Brake's Safe Vehicles Award, which goes to the organisation that has done the most to improve vehicle safety.

Pioneered by IRTE (Institute of Road Transport Engineers), irtec assesses the skills of technicians who work on large commercial vehicles, buses and coaches, and heavy vehicle trailers.

Commenting on the win, head of operations and communications at IRTE's umbrella organisation SOE Ian Chisholm says: "Through assessing and licensing road transport technicians, irtec's objective is to improve overall compliance and raise industry standards, thereby improving vehicle maintenance and road safety."

And he adds: "We are delighted that irtec has been recognised at the Brake Fleet Safety Awards, which are in line with our philosophy of promoting rigorous industry standards for vehicle maintenance."

irtec entered the awards with support from DAF Trucks, which has put more than 1,200 technicians through the independent irtec scheme, helping to ensure that the company has rigorous and comprehensive maintenance procedure in place.

Tony Shepherd, aftersales services manager for DAF, says: "The irtec inspection licence is a key ingredient in DAF's strategy to give operators the best OCRS [Operator Compliance Risk Score] protection.

"The independently-accredited irtec licence, coupled with DAFcheck, our electronic service sheet system, which incorporates a robust quality check process, gives every truck operator the best opportunity to protect their O-licence."

Roslyn Cumming, professional engagement manager at Brake, comments: "Brake congratulates IRTE on its highly commended award entry in the Safe Vehicles Category.

"Its work to raise and maintain quality standards for technicians is absolutely crucial to improving the safety of large commercial and passenger-carrying vehicle fleets, and to protecting all road users from the devastation caused by preventable crashes caused by improperly maintained vehicles."

Author
John Challen

Related Companies
Society of Operations Engineers

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