High growth kitchen supplier Howdens is giving its fleet of drivers elite-level eye training.
The company has partnered with Dr Sherylle Calder, founder of EyeGym, a specialist in visual decision making and coordination training. It is a move aimed at improving safety, driving and decision making, improving cognitive skills while under pressure.
Clients have included top-level sports teams and performers such as England’s 2003 World Cup winning rugby team, and Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas.
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The East Yorkshire-founded FTSE-listed giant, recently listed as one of the best companies to work for in Britain, is the first transport-reliant company in the UK to use EyeGym’s training. The relationship has already begun with an in-person session delivered by Dr Calder.
She said: “It is brilliant to be working with an organisation such as Howdens, the training that EyeGym provides will help to prepare its drivers for unexpected situations on the road.
"We believe that it will help to counteract the negative effects that have been caused by smartphones and other digital devices, by helping to improve attention, judgement and awareness amongst many other skills.”
The first session introduced the Howdens team to the importance of improved visual coordination in high-pressure jobs such as driving. Attendees were also offered the chance to test themselves to give them a benchmark of their current performance and abilities.
Gareth Sterland, head of transport at Howdens said: “90 per cent of the information that our drivers process comes through their eyes, and although our drivers already operate to exceptionally high standards when it comes to safety and performance, this training is designed to upskill drivers to be able to identify potential hazards, and to process that information more quickly
“We’re hopeful that it will lead to faster reaction and decision times and identify situations ahead of other road users, giving everyone a better chance of avoiding accidents on the roads. Even a marginal improvement will make the difference and make Howdens’ drivers even safer.”
Regular EyeGym training will become part of ongoing training programmes.
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