Helmet4Life - TotalEnergies Zimbabwe creates 'Shared Value with our Communities' through road- safety awareness

TotalEnergies Zimbabwe creates 'Shared Value with our Communities' through road- safety awareness

The Helmet4Life project was initiated following a meeting between P Pouyannė and J Toddt who is (Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for Road Safety) as part of the “Global Safe and Awareness Helmet Campaign”. 

Safety is at the cornerstone of TotalEnergies. Emanating with the affiliate TotalEnergies Marketing Zimbabwe, as a natural progression adding to our Road Safety pillar of CSR as well as the, and value to our SDG of “Creating Shared Value with our Communities, following several alarming reports of road traffic accidents in Harare, related to pedestrians and especially school children. The Helmets4Life campaign was a natural progression adding to our Road Safety pillar of CSR as well as the, and value to our SDG of “Creating Shared Value with our Communities”. 

During the month of April 2024, we sent our communication to service stations across Zimbabwe and major on mining/agricultural towns and via our social media sites to communicate regarding the Helmet4Life campaign, we sent our a ‘call to register’ through the network. We received an overwhelming response of 800 respondents in the month. On the 30th of April, we launched the campaign in Zimbabwe in the bordering town of Zimbabwe and Mozambique in Nyamapanda, were we received an overwhelming response for registration of participants.  For the Helmet4Life we partnered with Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) as our road safety training partner to raise awareness on the principles of road safety for two wheelers. In attendance of the launch was the MD of TZim, Veronique JOLIVET, MD TSCZ, Mr M Munodawafa, Local Authority officials. TZim management and staff as well as TSCZ officials. 

At the launch in Nyamapanda we have 100 2 wheelers driver and interested parties who were trained, and 70 helmets awarded. In the following months we visited, Nyanga following a recent 2-wheeler accident that had happened in the town 270kilometers from the capital, that had 1 fatality and 4 riders with major injuries (due to overloading and disregard of road rules) we trained 60 participants and awarded 40 helmets. The TotalEnergies team from head office, local team from TotalEnergies station and TSCZ officials took time to visit 2 of the injured persons (1 who had undergone a head surgery) who were involved in the road accident in a local hospital to train them on road safety principles of 2 wheelers. Other cities we visited were Chipinge; Nyazura; Macheke; Karoi; Plumtree; Mazowe.

During the month of the roll-out, in the different sessions, TZim took this opportunity to reaffirm             TotalEnergies Commitment towards the safety of communities we operate in enhancing the company’s reputation and social responsibility contributing to a positive brand image and increased customer loyalty.

-           Shared knowledge between traffic road safety officials and two-wheeler drives in various 4 provinces in Zimbabwe we visited

-           Visited two survivors of a recent two-wheeler accident in one of the towns, one who had undergone a head surgery as a result of the road traffic accident on a 2-wheeler, to reinforce we care about the communities we operate in.

In conclusion, 735, two- wheelers registered and were trained on the 4 principles of Road Safety for 2 wheelers.

300 helmets were distributed to drivers of 2 wheelers.

7 cities in 4 provinces in Zimbabwe benefitted from the training and distribution of the helmets.

Our partner on road safety initiatives Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe went on to award 200 participants/beneficiaries of the helmets with free provisional driving license (they usually cost USD30)

13 TZim staff were trained together with road safety awareness partner and in turn put in 2-3 hrs each volunteer (Action hours) assisting in the training in the 7 cities we reached.

Visted 2 survivors of a recent road traffic accident in hospital (1 who had recently undergone a head surgery) as a result of severe injuries (where 1 rider lost their life) 

Building on the success of this road safety campaign, in the future we hope to reach out and distribute more helmets to more two wheelers in Zimbabwe, this can be aid through further partnerships with interested partners and or corporates. In addition to encourage and ensure two-wheeler drivers in Zimbabwe have valid driver’s license class 3, through the correct regulatory authorities