Total Drills Petroleum Tanker Drivers on Safety Precaution

In other to forestall the frequent petroleum tanker accidents and its resultant explosions across the country, Total Nigeria Plc has charged all Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) under the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on the need to stay alive through safe driving and to uphold proper conduct on the wheels.

In other to forestall the frequent petroleum tanker accidents and its resultant explosions across the country, Total Nigeria Plc has charged all Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) under the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on the need to stay alive through safe driving and to uphold proper conduct on the wheels.
The company at its 2012 Transportation Safety Posters Campaign which held last week at the Ibafon depot truck park in Tin Can Island, Lagos alleged that many of the petroleum tanker accidents on Nigerian roads are caused by the tanker drivers.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily shortly after the training session, Engr Adegunle Koleade who is the Specialties Manager of Total Nigeria Plc explained that the training workshop is organized every year and that the essence is to instill proper conduct into petroleum tanker drivers working with the company.
According to him, the drivers have been cautioned on wrong attitudes while in transit, cautioned against over-speeding on the express, against night driving as well as the continuous driving of trucks on long distance without adequate rest.
“It is all about the safety, the partners that we have are the transporters, the unions, tanker drivers in order to highlight specific areas of safety for example, wearing of your seatbelts, over speeding, night driving, and continuous driving without rest, and this is done every year” he said.
The event also marked the unveiling of the 2012 safety poster of the company which is designed to caution drivers on preventive maintenance and caution against the wrong parking of trucks on Nigerian roads.
Responding, the chairman of the PTD at the Terminal 3 of Total, Comrade Awodele Olowobure expressed appreciation to the company for ensuring that his members are trained yearly through the workshop.
According to him, the main drill of this years’ workshop is to enlighten drivers on things that should be done and those not to do when discharging products, adding that,  “you must close all manholes and discharge through just one, you must not use plastic hose to discharge product, you must not discharge in underground manholes and other safety briefings”.
Continuing, Awodele maintained that, “Total Nigeria Plc does not want accidents on Nigerian roads at all, it is because of accident that the training is being organized yearly, they also have a training school that is created for all their drivers and it is once in a year, if the year is due, they will not allow any driver to drive their vehicles” he said.