Message from the Chair

Stewart Knowles, SoRSA Chair

Happy New Year!!  Here is to a fantastic 2021.
 
I remember when John was writing 'From the Chair' he always mention he was in one exotic location or another, how times have changed.  Lockdown is back upon us and we have been given new guidance from some of the Strategic Highway Authorities on Road Safety Audit during these times, which we have uploaded to our website.  This can be found here:  https://www.ciht.org.uk/sorsa/useful-links/. Lockdown is a difficult time for a lot of people, and I hope you're all doing as well as can be expected. January is often tough for some people as the weather is cold, some have debt issues (often due to the holidays), we may already be failing on our new year’s resolutions and have low motivational levels. Mental Health is a very important subject we should all be mindful of, so please reach out if you are feeling low and likewise please look after those you know who may be on their own or struggling during this time. 

There are many tools that home organisations provide to help you, but for our independents, or for anyone for that matter, this is a great tool that Jacobs have produced that I am proud to share https://www.oml.world/.   
 
When we had to postpone last year's Conference we never imagined that 12 months later we would be talking about potentially having to do the same again in 2021. Nothing is certain at the moment, but we would be interested in getting some views from our members about what you would like the Committee to look to do to support you in obtaining your CPD this year. Look out for the survey which is explained within this issue.   
 
Finally, it's with great sadness that I have to announce the passing of Steve Richards. Steve was a well loved and respected member and we will miss him attending our annual conference each year. I worked with Steve at InterRoute from 2006 and his energy and jokes where a highlight of my time there. His positivity that he would be able to get back to auditing was a true measure of the man he was. We talked about Steve at our latest Committee meeting and he won't be forgotten in our community.
 
P.S. Don't forget your reviews!!
 
Stewart Knowles, Chair 

SoRSA Conference Survey

As you are all aware 2020 was a difficult year with the outbreak of COVID-19 and going into the first Lockdown during early March 2020 and the pandemic is still with us in 2021 with a third Lockdown. Unfortunately, the SoRSA Committee were left with no option but to cancel the 2020 SoRSA Workshop & Conference, which was due to be held at the Radison Blu Hotel, Manchester Airport on the 22/23 June.
 
Since the cancellation of our annual event, we have been able to produce six ‘free of charge’ Webinars (amounting to 9 hours CPD) between July and December 2020, which has given our members the opportunity of obtaining some of their required CPD in accordance with the DMRB Road Safety Audit Standard GG 119. These Webinars are still available to CIHT Members on the following link - https://www.ciht.org.uk/members-area/resources/ciht-webinars/
 
Going forward we would be grateful if you could participate in the Survey Monkey below and provide us with your preferences for undertaking CPD in years 2021 and 2022.

Your answers will be collated to assist the committee in providing members with some of their CPD requirements to maintain their eligibility to undertake Road Safety Audits in the coming years.
 
Many thanks for your participation and look forward to seeing you all again soon. 
 
In the meantime, please stay Safe & Well.

Dennis Symons, SoRSA Vice Chair

SoRSA Annual Reviews

It’s Annual Review time again. And unless you receive an email from the SoRSA email address (sorsa@ciht.org.uk) informing you that you don’t have to complete one, you are required to complete an Annual Review. The submission period for 2021 is Monday 1 February to Wednesday 31 March 2021. 
 
You can find all of the relevant documents on the CIHT SoRSA webpage here.