Page 10 - Operation Lifesaver Estonia / Annual Report 2012
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© Operation Lifesaver is a international, non-profit education and awareness program dedicated to ending
tragic collisions, fatalities and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on railroad rights of way.
Founded in Estonia on 19 November 2004 -
Another year of OLE’s activities has ended and it
is time to look back its most important events and
achievements.It is a pleasure to admit that the eighth
year of organisation’s activities will be recorded in
history as the year whenwe had the lowest number of
accidents with fatal consequences happening on the
railways in Estonia. Such a positive result has been
achieved thanks to the long-term and impeccable
cooperation between OLE’s members, cooperation
partners and volunteers. So we can see that
AS Eesti
Raudtee, AS Edelaraudtee Infrastruktuuri AS and AS
EVR Cargo, public institutions lead by the Estonian
Technical Surveillance Authority, Police and Border
Guard Board, Rescue Board, Road Administration
and OLE volunteers have succeeded in coordinating
their activities and resources for communicating
the railway safety message to a large number
people. This is evidenced by the surveys conducted
after our campaigns among the target groups and
the feedback our volunteer presenters receive in
educational institutions all around Estonia.
The year 2012 was packed with activities. We
continued with the programme started in 2011
for improving the knowledge of rescue service
members and police officers that facilitates
conducting more operative and safe proceedings
while investigating railway accidents. Last year we
organised three nation-wide campaigns with the
objective to remind the general public once again
the dangers present on railways and call them to
be cautious while crossing railway tracks. Our hard
working volunteers continued with their activities
and took their railway safety presentations to 5400
listeners in different corners of Estonia. In addition,
OLE supported several projects promoting railway
safety, trained new presenters and attended several
international conferences. It is important to stress
that if during the first years of our activities OLE
was rather a consumer of the Operation Lifesaver’s
methodology and training materials then now
we have developed into an organisation whose
experience and advertising materials are warmly
welcomed by the authorities dealing with railway
safety in various countries.
I am also very pleased to see that railway safety
has become an inseparable part of traffic education
in Estonia. If during the first years we played more
active role in looking for schools located nearby
railway lines in order to make railway safety
presentations to their students then now there are
many educational institutions that approach us. It
often happens that we finalise our summer calendar
before spring has arrived. Finding cooperation
partners for various projects has also become a
lot easier. I sincerely hope that the number of
companies and organisations considering railway
safety activities important will continue growing.
It may seem for bystanders that safety related
preventive work is nothing but a lot of pointless
I would like to thank all of you for your
daily little contributions that have helped
us in making interaction with railways
safer.
Tamo Vahemets
NPO Operation Lifesaver Estonia
Chairman of Management Board – CEO
