In September, Miniclipper’s Simon Page travelled to Zambia with Transaid to support and educate driver trainers to improve safety practices on the road. Find out more about Simon and his experience in Zambia below…..
What is your role at Miniclipper?
I am the driver trainer, basically, this means that I ensure that any driver who works for Miniclipper is able to do their job safely and to the standard expected by the company.
What are your favourite parts of your job?
The variety is my favourite part, one day I could be in the office writing training material, the next on the road with a driver doing an assessment or I could be conducting a DCPC course. No two days are ever the same. Also, another thing that I really enjoy is when I am working with a driver on our warehouse to wheels programme and they pass their driving test and are then able to drive a HGV – it is very rewarding.
Why is the work that Transaid do so very important?
The work that Transaid does is absolutely vital. While I was in Zambia I was able to spend time with Neil Rettie who works for Transaid, he told me about so many other things that Transaid do apart from the work I was involved in which means that many lives will not only be improved but also saved. They are an amazing charity who I would love to do more work with, if given the opportunity.
What was the highlight of training and educating drivers in Zambia with Transaid?
The highlight was being able to do what I do in an environment I’ve never worked in before. The team at the Industrial Training Centre in Lusaka were very welcoming and very supportive, which helped me to settle in and meant that I was able to get straight to work. The three driver trainers I was working with directly had a great willingness to learn and develop their knowledge and skill set, they were constantly seeking feedback on what they were doing and how they could do it better because they wanted to be able to give anyone they would be training the best possibility of being a safe driver.
Why is it so important to train and educate drivers in Sub-Saharan Africa? The training and education of drivers is vitally important to help reduce the accident rate which will in turn reduce the death rate on their roads. I think the way Transaid have gone about trying to help and change this is the right way. By training those who are going to be training new drivers, not just in HGV’s but in buses, cars and on motorbikes, educating then on awareness and giving all drivers the tools to be able to drive safely, taking into consideration other road users, especially vulnerable road users will, in the long run make a massive difference to road safety across Sub-Saharan Africa
For more information on how you can support Transaid visit www.transaid.org
Please click here for a downloadable copy of the above interview
