Air pollution is linked to around 29,000 deaths its Clean Air Strategy, including a chapter a year in the UK. It is the fourth biggest threat on reducing emissions from transport. to public health after cancer, obesity and Air pollution has also become an important heart disease, and last year alone, the costs focus of the work we do at NICE. In June 2017 of air pollution to the NHS and social care in we published our first piece of guidance on England were estimated at £42.88 million. this topic and we are due to publish an air The harmful and life-threatening effects of air pollution quality standard in February 2019. pollution are something we have battled as a We have known for some time that the nation for decades. In 1956, the government nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter introduced its first Clean Air Act to put an end emitted by vehicle exhausts has a direct to the infamous urban smogs of the 1950s. impact on our health. For example, And over the years further legislation short-term exposure to trafficand various monitoring networks related air pollution can were introduced to combat trigger asthma attacks The NIC and measure air quality. and long-term guidelin E But despite these exposure has been positive steps forward, found to reduce to prev e aims e air pollution continues life-expectancy, n t both the sho to pose a significant mainly due to an r t t erm an long-te threat to life. Today, our increased risk of d r biggest challenge is the cardiovascular and road-tram effects of air pollution caused by respiratory disease. ffic rela ted air pollu the millions of vehicles Our guideline tion lining our roads. aims to prevent both the short-term ‘Tackling traffic-related and long-term effects air pollution is now a of road-traffic related national priority’ air pollution. One key area it At the end of June 2018, there were 38.2 highlights is the important role that local million vehicles licensed for use on the roads authorities and NHS organisations can play in Great Britain, of which 31.5 million were to reduce the emissions from its vehicles. cars. Worryingly, the total number of licensed vehicles on our roads is increasing every year, averaging 640,000 per year since 2012. So it comes as no surprise that tackling traffic-related air pollution is now a national priority. In June 2017, the government proposed a £3.5 billion plan to reduce air pollution from road transport and diesel vehicles and, in May 2018, it launched
Volume 25.6 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Written by Gillian Leng, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive at NICE, discusses the dangerous impact that air pollution is having on our nation’s health and the role that NICE is playing in the fight against it
Air pollution
Hitting the brakes on traffic-related air pollution
‘Public sector decisions about vehicle procurement don’t always take air pollution into account’ The public sector fleet is substantial. It includes various vehicle types (from local authority refuse vehicles and goods vehicles to lease cars and patient transport vehicles) many of which are highly polluting. However, public sector decisions about vehicle procurement don’t always take air pollution into account. In light of this, our guidance recommends that local authority and NHS organisations should make low vehicle emissions one of the key criteria when making routine procurement decisions. This could include replacing high polluting vehicles with lowemission ones at the end of their working life. Another key area the guidance explores is the need to train NHS and local authority staff in efficient driving. Many drivers are unaware of the impact their driving has on air pollution, and about practical changes they could make to reduce this. To address this problem, our guidance urges organisations to consider introducing fuel-efficient driving as part of any test carried out when appointing or re-appraising staff who drive as part of their work. It also recommends that staff drivers should be trained to reduce their vehicle emissions. NICE recommends training public sector drivers to lower their vehicle emissions. This could include: reducing rapid accelerations and decelerations, and selecting the correct gears to improve fuel consumption; switching off engines, if practical and safe, when parked by the roadside and when dropping off people or deliveries; ensuring good vehicle maintenance, including pumping up tyres to the recommended pressure; and emphasising that lower vehicle emissions will reduce both fuel costs and air pollution. Training drivers in techniques such as smooth acceleration and braking, not over-revving the engine, efficient gear changing, no idling when parked or making a delivery and ensuring tyres are inflated to the correct level can help to improve fuel efficiency and cut emissions. E
19
