A recent safety stand down day provided the opportunity for Balfour Beatty’s Fleet team to carry out vehicle checks ahead of winter weather and begin the roll out of new telematics to the company’s power, gas and water fleets.

The event, held in Aviemore, involved over 550 Balfour Beatty employees working on the Beauly to Denny overhead power line project, which involves constructing 230km of new lines and 500 new towers to carry renewable electricity from Northern Scotland south to the main national grid.

With the employees came 133 vehicles in a variety of shapes and sizes, which the company’s technicians subjected to a number of vigorous tests. Portable weighbridges were deployed to check for vehicle weight compliance, followed by safety checks on the condition of tyres, lights mirrors and glass.

Adrian Wanford, Fleet Operations Manager, Balfour Beatty – Plant & Fleet, said: "It is important that all of our vehicles are in peak condition, but a particular challenge for our team here in Scotland is the often inhospitable weather. We have to get our preparations in early as we just don’t know when the bad weather might hit."

Wanford continued:  "Balfour Beatty has employed a driver behaviour telematics system over the last four years to great success, with reduced collision rates, reduced severity of collisions and a general improvement in driving standards all recorded.