Khalid Qureshi, Communications & Trade Marketing Lead Bridgestone, was part of the high-profile panellists who discussed road safety management and best practices. Bridgestone is one of the active members of the Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network.

During the session titled ‘Road safety best practices,’ Qureshi shared with the participants Bridgestone’s highly successful ‘Eyes on the Road’ and 'Eyes on the Road' Ramadan initiative that focuses on the wellbeing of UAE truck drivers. 

He also spoke about Bridgestone’s sustainable and efficient fleet management and mobility solutions whilst promoting his organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme in the local business community.

He was joined by Dr. David Marsh, Project Director, Sheida International Co. LLC, Sultanate of Oman; Roshan Menon, Quality Assurance, Safety and Project Manager Emirates Group; M.S. Sridhar, Group HSEQ & Sustainability Manager, Tristar Group, and the session was moderated by Syed Atif Ali, Program Manager CSR, Dubai Chamber of Commerce.  

More than 60 participants from various companies in the region attended the online session. The task force’s member companies, industry experts, and technology providers tackled during the event a host of topics affecting road safety. These included vehicle safety features, journey management techniques, fatigue management, maintenance and repairs, driver wellbeing, and driving behaviour.

Stefano Sanchini, Regional Managing Director, Bridgestone Middle East and Africa, said: “We, at Bridgestone, are dedicated to the safety of roads not only through our high-quality products and innovative solutions but also by educating drivers. Our discussions are geared toward promoting relevant initiatives, best practices, and challenges facing our efforts today. Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network provides us with a platform for sharing expertise that would help accelerate our joint endeavours to prevent accidents and road traffic injuries. It facilitates collaboration between the most brilliant minds in the business.”

Bridgestone’s ‘Eyes on the Road’ campaign, which offers free health screenings to truck drivers, forms part of its CSR progamme promoting the safety of everyone whilst on the road. It emphasises the need to look after the health of truck drivers who spend long hours on the road delivering goods and commodities.

Qureshi said: “Safety is a value that is reflected in the quality of our products. That is why our CSR campaign is very important to us. We appreciate the hard work and long hours that truck drivers dedicate to delivering goods and commodities, and we demonstrate this through our ‘Eyes on the Road’ campaign. A potentially life-saving health check campaign, the campaign aims to improve fitness and road safety and reflects our responsibility to keep them and everyone around them safe on the roads.”

Bridgestone, which seeks to become a major player in the global mobility ecosystem, transforms its passion for safety and comfort by setting new standards of technological advancement, offering high-quality products, and raising road safety awareness in the region and worldwide.

October , 2022 - Bridgestone, a global leader in tyres and sustainable mobility solutions, announced that its tyre manufacturing plant in Rome, Italy (‘Roma’) has become the first tyre plant across the whole of Bridgestone to achieve the coveted and globally recognised International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS certification.

ISCC PLUS recognises compliance with and transparency around sustainability and traceability of raw materials including bio, bio-circular and circular-based material in the manufacturing process. Working towards a more sustainable world, ISCC PLUS aims to support the transition to a circular economy and bioeconomy by contributing to the implementation of environmentally, socially and economically sustainable production.

The certification, which evaluates all the sustainable raw materials in the value chain to determine and verify compliance with environmental requirements, also marks a step in Bridgestone’s ambitious global journey towards the use of 40% sustainable materials by 2030, and 100% sustainable materials by 2050.

Roma plant became the first tyre manufacturing facility of Bridgestone to achieve ISCC PLUS certification at the beginning of September thanks to its use of Bio-Circular and Circular-based materials. Bridgestone EMIA will be expanding the assessment programme across further plants in Europe from 2023.

Commenting on the ISCC PLUS certification Emilio Tiberio, COO & CTO at Bridgestone EMIA said: “We are on a journey to 2050 and the delivery, by then, of our major environmental goals; carbon neutrality and the use of 100% sustainable materials. This ISCC PLUS certification for Roma plant is a step along the way to become a leading sustainable solutions company and reflects our hard work and dedication to overcome the technological and market challenges to fully sustainable and renewable tyres.”  

Bridgestone’s Roma plant isn’t the only facility to enjoy success with ISCC PLUS certification this month, as the Bridgestone Aiken County Passenger/Light Truck Radial tyre plant also became the first tyre manufacturing facility in America to earn ISCC PLUS recognition.

The sustainability certification at both Bridgestone’s Roma and Aiken plants aligns perfectly with the “Ecology” and “Energy” values in the Bridgestone E8 Commitment – the broad, global corporate commitment that clearly defines the value Bridgestone is promising to deliver to society, customers, and future generations in eight focus areas.