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Veracel wins Prêmio Volvo Traffic Safety Prize
Veracel was one of the winners of the XVI Prêmio Volvo Traffic Safety Prize for its "You'll Get Where You're Going through Safety" campaign run by the Human Resources department in partnership with the Trânsito Legal organization. The campaign was held between October 4-8, 2004 and included lectures on defensive driving for employees and the distribution of safe driving informational notebooks. Mário Nelson Cardoso, Veracel's manager for Wood Supply, represented the company at the award ceremony held in Salvador on October 9.
At Veracel, the campaign involved 1,200 participants and the main result that was achieved was an 85% reduction in the number of traffic accidents involving vehicles driven by the company's own and its outsourced employees.
The prize is part of the Volvo Traffic Safety Campaign (PVST), created to encourage initiatives for saving lives and making traffic more humane and safe, reducing the number and gravity of accidents on the streets and highways of the country.
The prize is divided into a number of categories: General, City, University Student, Company, Professional Driver and Press. In the Company category, the nationwide winner was Unimed Curitiba, in Paraná. Besides Veracel, which won in the Northeast region, the other Company winners included the DER (Highway Department) of São Paulo (Southeast region) and Transporte Bertolini, located in Rio Grande do Sul (South region). There were no winners in the North or Center-West regions. Each national category winner received a trophy and the right to a trip to Sweden. All regional winners received a Volvo Trophy.
According to Anaelse Oliveira, PVST coordinator, "events such as the Volvo Traffic Safety Forum, Technical Debates and the Volvo Traffic Safety Campaign, as well as the In Transit Project - an educational proposal for middle schools that seeks to contribute to the development of safe driving habits - assist in the mobilization of society in search of safer vehicle traffic." She added "it is difficult to quantify the results of the PVST. But it is certain that millions of Brazilian have become aware of the importance of preparing themselves to face the dangers of traffic and many companies and a good portion of the news media have likewise become motivated."