The IRU Academy has launched a new training programme featuring a unique, interactive simulator for safe loading and cargo securing that fully complies with the new CEN standard entering into force today. The programme is available to road transport professionals through IRU Academy’s Accredited Training Institutes and will contribute to further enhance safety on roads.

Geneva – Further to the European Committee for Standardization (CEN)’s revision initiated in 2005 and adopted in 2010 of the standard EN 12195-1 on cargo securing guidelines, the IRU Academy has developed and launched today an interactive training programme on Safe Loading & Cargo Securing aimed at training anyone involved in loading and cargo securing of road transport vehicles, including transport operators, drivers, loaders, customers and suppliers, in full compliance with the latest measures and requirements pertaining to this new CEN standard.

Mårten Johansson, President of the IRU International Commission on Technical Affairs, stressed: “Correct loading and securing of goods on road freight vehicles is essential to ensure safe and legal road transport. It is therefore vital that the securing of cargo on a vehicle is carried out according to adequate standards, applied in a harmonised way across Europe and beyond. The IRU and its Members therefore strongly support the implementation of the revised EN 12195-1 standard as it ensures optimal cargo securing conditions for all parties involved in the transport chain.”

This interactive training programme, featuring a state-of-the-art simulator, covers issues such as risks and responsibilities, technical standards, laws of physics, vehicle characteristics, categories of goods transported, loading best practices, securing material and securing techniques.

IRU Head of Training, Patrick Philipp, explained: “The IRU Academy Safe Loading and Cargo Securing Training programme not only provides up-to-date theoretical knowledge but also tests, with exercises and simulations, the understanding and competence acquired. Students will use the simulator to experience different scenarios covering a wide range of situations to ultimately hone their technical skills in a cost-efficient and safe environment.”

This new IRU Academy training programme, which fully supports the industry’s commitment to the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, is available in English and soon in multiple languages, through the IRU Academy’s global network of Accredited Training Institute (ATIs).

The revised CEN standard EN 12195-1, which was designed in line with the IMO/ILO/UNECE Best practice guidelines, enters into force today, 31 May 2011, for all CEN contracting parties. It will considerably secure and facilitate international road transport by removing conflicts between national standards as well as potential discrimination against foreign suppliers.

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·         Press contact: Juliette Ebélé, +41 22 918 27 07, press@iru.org