Deliveroo working to put their riders and safety first

Leading online food platform, Deliveroo is taking even further steps to ensure rider safety comes first with the launch of its Winter Rider Safety Campaign and kick off of the second Rider Safety Advisory Panel.

This comes as a recent Deliveroo Rider Satisfaction survey revealed that 82% of Deliveroo riders say they are satisfied with safety when riding with Deliveroo and 83% are satisfied with their kit. While this is an encouraging result, Deliveroo will continue to strive to do more to improve the safety of riders and road users.

Throughout May and June, Deliveroo will roll out a Winter Rider Safety Campaign that adds to the regular safety measures in place. The campaign includes weekly themed communications, safety kit bundles, safety videos, educational events and a new podcast series ‘Safety Matters’ specifically dedicated to discussing issues around rider safety. The primary purpose is to ensure Deliveroo riders feel confident and safe while completing deliveries during the winter months, and encouraging riders to prioritise safety at all times. Deliveroo already provides all riders and their delegates with free personal injury and income protection insurance.

The educational events program will be run in collaboration with and facilitated by Deliveroo partners, including bespoke first aid sessions with the Australian Red Cross to protect pedestrians, road safety with the Transport Accident Commission, vehicle maintenance with Reid Bicycles, Verified Autoshop and Scooterama and personal safety with Victoria Police.

The rider safety videos feature riders talking about their safety tips for other riders, with specific tips relating to different vehicle types, also including subject matter from expert road authorities. There will be themed written communications to riders on topics such as vehicle maintenance, road rules and being safe and seen. The safety kit bundles include blindspot mirrors, reflective stickers, reflective armbands, and phone mounts.

In April 2021, Deliveroo kicked off its second Rider Safety Advisory Panel. Originally launched in August 2019, The Rider Safety Advisory Panel is an initiative that offers riders independent representation and enables Deliveroo to improve safety for riders across Australia by listening to their feedback and implementing changes, such as this campaign, in response. Deliveroo was the first food delivery platform in Australia to establish a rider-run panel.

This year, 264 riders submitted applications with ideas for safety initiatives that Deliveroo could implement. A shortlist was then voted on by Deliveroo riders nationally and from there a final ten were selected. The riders behind the top ten ideas formed the Panel for 2021. Many of these ideas informed the winter safety program, such as training and resources for vehicle maintenance and first aid, as well as high visibility reflective stickers which were included in safety kits distributed to riders.

The ideas will be explored further in virtual panel meetings across the year and finally at a face-to-face workshop in September with Deliveroo company executives.

Hassan Danial, member of the 2021 Rider Safety Advisory Panel and trained mechanical engineer. Hassan drives with Deliveroo in Geelong between his job working with children in before and after school care.

“I’ve been driving with Deliveroo for over two years, and being a part of the Rider Safety Advisory Panel means I can use my experience to enhance the safety of current and future delivery riders. Being part of the panel has been a great experience and I look forward to meeting other panel members along with the Deliveroo team in Melbourne to share our experiences to further enhance rider safety."

“I advocated for the first aid course along with vehicle safety checks. They are doing a webinar on first aid in collaboration with The Australian Red Cross during the Winter Safety Campaign. This benefits the safety and wellbeing of the community. When you have first aid, you never know who is going to need it so what we are doing is improving road safety for the general public as well.”

Ed McManus, CEO of Deliveroo Australia says.

“Riders are at the heart of all we do at Deliveroo. It goes without saying that being safe on the road matters to riders and matters to us. When we’re speaking with riders, they are telling us about road quality and access to cycling infrastructure among many other safety issues.

“The Winter Rider Safety Campaign will provide educational events and resources to ensure they are equipped with the best possible information and tools to stay safe on the roads. We are very grateful to the various partners who have come on board to support this initiative.

“The Rider Safety Advisory Panel platform enables riders to have independent representation and a voice on an issue that is absolutely paramount to both Deliveroo and Deliveroo riders. As a result of our first panel in 2019, we launched the online Rider Safety Hub with a range of safety content and safety stickers for the rider network nationally. We look forward to introducing further measures with the guidance and support of this year's rider led panel.”

About Deliveroo

Deliveroo is an award-winning delivery service founded in 2013 by William Shu and Greg Orlowski. Globally, Deliveroo works with over 80,000 best-loved restaurants, as well as 50,000 riders to provide the best food delivery experience in the world.

Deliveroo is headquartered in London, with 2,500 employees in offices around the globe. Deliveroo operates in over 500 towns and cities across 11 markets, including Australia, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

Deliveroo operates in 15 cities across Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Geelong, Wollongong, Hobart, Newcastle, Cairns, Bendigo and Ballarat.