CEMEX and Grab Philippines ink partnership for road safety program

Road safety is a global priority. In the Philippines, the high number of road accidents make it one of the most pressing health and safety concerns in the country. According to World Health Organization (WHO), Developing economies record higher rates of road traffic injuries, with 93% of fatalities coming from low- and middle-income countries.

To help save lives and reduce the cases of serious injuries from road accidents, CEMEX and Grab Philippines inked a partnership to promote health and road safety initiatives. For both CEMEX and Grab, safety is of topmost priority, thus, this partnership commits to increasing awareness of the presence and needs of vulnerable road users and reducing the number of accidents especially in high-risk areas such as intersections, crosswalks, roundabouts, etc. through education of vulnerable road users.

"For us, health and safety is our main priority. We always try to make sure that all our employees and contractors and everybody who comes to our plants or to our warehouses, our terminals, have a productive day and they go back home to their families and to their loved ones unharmed, " said Luis Franco, CEMEX Philippines Country President.

“Partnerships like this are very important and will clearly make a difference. I look forward to sharing our best practices in order to create safer roads,” Luis added.

For CEMEX, building a culture of safety is very important in light of the impact of road accidents not only to lives lost on the road but also the impact on national economies. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that road injuries cost countries 3% of their annual GDP.

In CEMEX Philippines, a road safety education campaign has been going on since 2013 through its Listo Tayo Road Safety program. It aims to promote a culture of safety across CEMEX operations, for employees, stakeholders, and community members. The program has helped road users to be mindful of the critical importance of being alert on the road and knowing our shared responsibility lies in keeping the roads safe.

"Our drivers are integral parts of our organization. It's something that we value because, at the end of the day, they're doing a lot of extra work for us. On top of this, having this partnership, we believe that CEMEX has a lot of experience that we can partner with to help our drivers at the end," emphasized CJ Lacsican, Grab Philippines Head of Operations.

"It's good to have this project happening immediately, and I look forward to many other things we can do in the coming days, weeks and years of this partnership. So thank you for partnering with usin this effort,” added Edwin Hufemia, CEMEX Philippines Supply Chain Vice President.

As Grab grows and the number of drivers and delivery partners increase, it has invested in developing technologies to improve driver safety. For one, Grab reported that they developed an in-house vehicle telematics engine that harnesses sensors and telemetry data within mobile devices to analyze driving conduct and provide a comprehensive driving safety report to Grab drivers. The report provides a score based on the driving pattern of a driver along with personalized feedback and nudges to improve their driving.