PDO in Guinness Book for most ‘cat’s eye’ reflectors
MADIHA ASIF madiha@timesofoman.com
MUSCAT: Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has set a new Guinness World Record for installing the most number of solar reflective lights on a road.
The company has fitted 43,550 sun-powered “cat’s eye” units on a 650-kilometre stretch of highway in the south of its concession area, from Haima to Salalah via Nimr, Marmul, Harweel and Thumrait, beating the previous record set in Japan over a 220-kilometre road stretch.
“Since the installation of the reflectors was completed in February, there has not been a single fatality or accident at night or in inclement conditions on the route, and today, we celebrated 750 million kilometres without a work-related road safety fatality,” said Raoul Restucci, Managing Director at PDO.
The LED (light-emitting diode) reflective studs are charged by the sun during the day and automatically turn on when the light is low, at night, or in a harsh weather environment, such as fog, rain or sandstorms. “We have been at this for many, many years and turned every stone in vehicle monitoring systems, training programmes, defensive driving and various technologies, and today, we were able to celebrate an incredible achievement,” Restucci added.
Restucci was presented with a commemorative shield from Guinness Book of World Records representative Ahmed Gamaledin Ahmed Gabr at a special ceremony at Crowne Plaza Muscat on Wednesday, December 19.
Safety first
“The achievement is very special because as a company we can’t achieve anything unless we start with safety. Get safety right and everything else comes with it and not the other way around. We have additional programmes and I think by the middle of next year, we will have 1400 kilometres of cat’s eyes installed in total, solar reflectors to basically ensure that in situations with low visibility or fog, drivers don’t follow the centre line but follow the guidance of the cat’s eyes,” Restucci told the Times of Oman exclusively.
Moreover, PDO has also fitted more solar cat’s eyes over a further 444-kilometre distance from Naith through Fahud, Lekhwair and Ibri in the north of its concession area, and is aiming to cover a further 494 kilometres on three stretches of road from Adam to Thumrait (a dual carriageway), Natih to Ibri and Ghaba to Saih Rawl via Qarn Alam by March.
As part of the festivities, PDO’s contractors’ and sub-contractors’ top 75 drivers were also presented with Best Driver awards for their contribution to helping PDO’s road safety performance reach a world-class standard.