The recent fatal runway crash between a fire truck and an airplane at Peru’s busiest airport has put a spotlight on runway safety yet again. Especially with the holiday season coming up. While the average of 700 runway incursion yearly might not seem high – any collision can be fatal.
Two firefighters died after the Latam Airlines jet collided with the truck at Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima. No passengers or crew were killed. Latam’s CEO said the flight had been cleared for take-off, but the airport has now said a routine drill was being carried out by the fire services.
Simplytrak is well-known for providing safety and security telematics solutions across industries. The company counts Wickes, Bigfoot Logistics and Practical Car & Van Rental among its telematics clients benefitting from Simplytrak’s tracking and camera solutions.
AIM: Airside Incursion Mitigation is Simplytrak’s solution for the aviation sector. It was developed with the UK’s fastest-growing airport, Doncaster Sheffield Airport, and is now being used across the UK. Indeed, when presented to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, their response was that AIM would be a “significant benefit to any airport”.
“Since installing our safety telematics solution in runway vehicles, the incursion rate has been reduced to zero,” says Ian Wood, Managing Director. “Runway incursions could be vehicles, pedestrians or other obstacles on the runway.”
There are on average 700 runway incursions every year across airports, keeping runway incursions on the Significant Seven key risk areas in the aviation sector (CAA).
Findings from incident and accident reports have been used to determine the new recommendations and associated guidance materials contained in the European Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Incursions.
Runway incursions are a serious issue every day across airports in the European region. Bespoke to each airport layout, the AIM system includes visible and audible in-cab warnings and switches automatically to the new incursion boundaries in case of LVP (Low Visibility Procedures).
“Installed in all airside vehicles, AIM requires no external communications to alert drivers to potential incursion risks,” says Wood. “This effectively eliminates the risk of incursions from whatever the weather or light conditions. Air Traffic Control can also have full visibility of the actual locations of airside vehicles. AIM is not reliant on mobile networks either. With its innovative design, the in-cab device alerts the driver first and then transmits its data to our cloud-based software platform.”
AIM is currently used at airports including Doncaster Sheffield, Durham Tees Valley, Exeter, and Cork. The feedback has been fantastic.
“Since installing Airside Incursion Mitigation (AIM) to all prime fleet engaged in movement area activities, runway safety has improved significantly with a runway incursion rate for airport vehicles reduced to zero,” said Keith Moran, Director of Operations, Doncaster Sheffield Airport. “Added benefits or real time fleet management and tracking are essential to audits and quality assurance. I highly recommend this as key driver in mitigation and risk to an effective safety system to any airport operator.”
Looking ahead, Simplytrak has ambitious plans for the further roll-out of AIM. Earlier this year Simplytrak sponsored the British-Irish Airports EXPO to meet with industry professionals and government decision-makers. Using these conversations as a sounding board AIM plans to create more brand awareness and test the water regarding other UK airports before expansion into Europe, then gaining traction before promoting internationally.
To find out more about AIM, please contact us today.
On the 10th of October, the World Health Organisation annually recognises World Mental Health Day. This year’s theme is ‘make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority.’ Mental health in our personal and working lives is crucial for personal and business success and we put great emphasis on our team members’ well-being here at Simplytrak.
Simplytrak prides itself on the people culture we have implemented for all our employees and into our day-to-day working life. We are honest, caring and great listeners to one another. When we have a hard day at work we know our team will be supportive to push you to do your best.
Our founders, Alison and Andrew Johnson have prioritised mental health in the workplace through our culture. More importantly, they’ve asked members of our team to come forward if they wanted to qualify as mental health ambassadors. They’ve also put into place HR mental health processes and policies to reinforce the successful culture we have. Their “aim is to create a culture where people can work together well, feel motivated and thrive.”
The importance of prioritising mental health in a business just makes sense. Our founders say “when our team’s mental (as well as physical) needs are covered and they are in a happy and productive environment, job satisfaction and productivity levels are high. Simplytrak cares for many clients, but we also know that we need to start by taking care of ourselves and those around us to build that successful relationship with clients.”
Hailey Fryatt, office administrator and mental health ambassador, says ‘it’s important for people to know it’s okay to not be okay.’ Likewise Fiona Downie, fellow ambassador for mental health, comments that ‘having a support network within the business gives employees the opportunity to talk to someone who can be impartial and not necessarily in their day-to-day work lives, hopefully making it easier for people to reach out.’
To further emphasise Simplytrak’s commitment to mental health, our chosen charity of the year is Andy’s Man Club, a men’s suicide prevention charity. They offer peer to peer support groups across the United Kingdom with an aim to end the stigma surrounding men’s mental health.
We hope everyone at Simplytrak feels like they can take some time to themselves and ask their team members how they feel to make sure they’re ok.
More than 1,500 whiplash claims are made in the UK every day. That is costing the insurance industry more than £2 billion a year. And adding £90 to the average annual motor insurance premium.
Some claimant have severe pain in their neck and are suffering quite badly. If there is also quite a lengthy prognosis then they are likely to receive maximum compensation. Which would be in the region of £11,000. A claimant with the same amount of pain and suffering but prognosis of less than maybe two years is likely to receive compensation between £6,500 and £11,500. The average compensation amount is in the region of £3000.
The ABI has campaigned for reform of the personal injury claims system for many years and welcomes the introduction of the Civil Liability Act 2018. The reforms will:
Reform how the Discount Rate used to calculate larger personal injury awards is set, to ensure it is up to date and reflects how claimants typically invest their compensation
However, back in April, the MoJ announced that it would delay the introduction of the Civil Liability Act, citing the coronavirus pandemic. But the ABI warned the department against undue delays, claiming any additional stalling would “impact on the benefits to claimants and consumers”.
Now, the new laws are set to arrive in April 2021, 12 months after the original scheduled introduction in April 2020. The delayed introduction of new rules designed to cut the value of personal injury compensation has cost Britain’s motorists a combined total of £1.3 billion.
Sources:https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/topics-and-issues/personal-injury-claims/whiplash-claims/https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/new-setback-in-race-to-begin-whiplash-reform-in-aprilhttps://www.accidentclaimsadvice.org.uk/whiplash-claims-calculator/https://uk.news.yahoo.com/delayed-whiplash-reforms-cost-drivers-082000214.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMD62pFp9tXh1T6nBQvwCulJi7rHBs6foVuShq9gyFlw7oqmWDZ11FF9B9W0uBPAiavaUGKDKZcwrDkaycR8JHIcu_Rdu3iZONbBgjYgjHHo52amWRs6bFVYd9eccouOlsG0xyIHoY7iqEWqComrKY16lyibIqzuN8Ma55uYitDP
Farms, by necessity, need a range of expensive machinery like tractors, quad bikes, etc. in order to carry out their tasks. A stolen vehicle can be a traumatic experience, costly and extremely inconvenient to say the least.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) just 2 in 5 stolen vehicles return to their owner. Even if the vehicles return, they’re not likely to be a good condition. The West Yorkshire Police Vehicle Crime Unit officially advises owners to track their vehicles to avoid theft.
Simplytrak’s asset and vehicle tracking system provides the exact location of your vehicle at any given time. In addition, Simplytrak offers remote immobilisation features. They have the ability to stop your vehicle from running remotely – and start it again if required.Simplytrak’s Operations Manager Steve Brindle who guided the police with the tracker information, says “Speed is important as our client received the vehicle back without damages, ready to go. The investment in vehicle tracking has surely paid off for him. We would recommend anyone owning machinery to track their vehicles. It’s not expensive and it’s worth it.”
Press release — Market Weighton, 22 October 2019
Simplytrak offers a cutting-edge vehicle tracking system with integrated cameras and live footage of incidents. The telematics solution offers in-depth fleet reports for those that wish to monitor vehicles for driver behaviour, mileage and fuel usage amongst other options.
Simplytrak offers fleet managers the ultimate control over their vehicles with Simplytrak’s Remote Immobilisation option which can de-mobilise vehicles with the click of a button.
Ian Wood, Simplytrak’s Managing Director, comments, “We are delighted that Practical Car and Van Rental have chosen us as their preferred supplier of tracking solutions. Having spent a lot of time with our customers, we recognised the need for more visibility and control of their vehicles. Our Tracking solution and Remote Immobilisation feature gives fleet managers that ultimate control of their vehicle, increasing safety and reducing costs.”
Practical Car and Van Rental is the UK’s fourth largest rental company with over 150 car and van hire locations situated throughout the UK and Ireland. The fleet comprises of over 4000 vehicles in total.
Darren Williamson, Practical’s Insurance Manager, states, “Simplytrak are rated very highly within the marketplace for their products. They came to us with a solution that works for our franchise network. A lot of franchisees on the network are already using Simplytrak’s service and have returned with very good reviews. It allows us to give back control to the franchisees.”
Simplytrak has developed telematics solutions for its clients since 2002 and continues to stay cutting-edge and bespoke at the same time.