Spillard News

 

One of the UK’s leading innovators in mobile safety equipment is challenging the transport, distribution and waste sector to cut out ‘blind spots’ once and for all.

Spillard Safety Systems, which is celebrating 25 years providing solutions to road safety problems, is urging companies to explore new technology that will allow their drivers to significantly improve their visibility on busy roads, congested city centre’s and difficult rural routes.

The Wolverhampton-based firm is currently working with more than 100 different clients, helping to educate them on where ‘blind spots’ occur and how – through new technology – they can be eradicated.

In addition to improving safety and reducing accidents, there is also evidence emerging of insurance premiums being reduced.

“This has been our passion since we started the business in 1992 and we have made a lot of progress…however, there is still a lot of work to be done until we can stop people being injured or losing their lives due to poor vision on vans, trucks and articulated lorries,” explained Pete Spillard, Managing Director of Spillard Safety Systems.

“The transport sector is slowly, but surely heeding the message. In the last year, we have seen sales in this area grow by 25% and this is expected to continue over the course of the next six months.”

He continued: “What’s driving this? A combination of wanting to be safe on the roads and the reality that the investment in removing ‘blind spots’ pays for itself through improvement in efficiency and can even help prove wrongful accident claims should it be needed”

Spillard Safety Systems has enjoyed significant success with its Optronics range of safety systems, which provide users with crystal clear vision when driving or moving around sites and difficult to navigate roads.

This includes:

• Optronics 360° – the world’s first stand-alone surround view system for industrial vehicles

• Optronics Wide Eye – fitted to the underside of wing mirrors, this nearside camera transmits a much wider field of vision than a traditional nearside camera and sends a high resolution picture to a dashboard monitor – ideal for spotting cyclists or other vehicles coming up the side of large vehicles

• Optronics Foresight – a state-of-the-art digital video recording system that can record up to 8 channels

S&B Waste Management & Recycling, which employs 70 people at its base in the West Midlands, is one company that has invested significantly into installing mobile safety equipment on to a number of its fleet.

Bosses at the company decided to use Optronics 360° to improve the operator’s view and this has already resulted in fewer accidents and increased efficiency.

“We operate 40 vehicles every week and across the course of the year we make over 20,000 journeys,” explained Steve Broadley, Managing Director of S&B Waste.

“A lot of these are made on tight streets where there are lots of different hazards, many of which are difficult for our drivers to spot. Our first instinct is safety – both for our staff and the general public – so we approached Spillard Safety about some possible solutions.”

He continued: “Experts from the firm came out and went through our entire fleet, providing feasibility studies on the options available and the difference they would make. After much discussion, we eventually went for trialling Optronics 360° on four of our DAF and Scania vehicles.

“The trial has been a resounding success with S&B staff reporting a whole host of operational benefits. Visibility, when performing their jobs, has improved dramatically and this has made staff more efficient within their roles. This has resulted in more journeys and increased customer satisfaction in the process.”

S&B Waste, who provide general and specialist waste disposal for a host of public and private sector clients, has taken its commitment a stage further by also investing in Spillard’s Optronics Foresight System.

Steve concluded: “It has been one of the best investments we’ve made and has already paid us back fivefold in terms of improved driver performance, increased safety and reduced insurance and repair costs.”