Everything under control.. Björn Eskelund one of the Safety Group founders.
The Safety Group organization was founded in Sweden late in 2007 by Björn Eskelund and Jouko Sjöstedt. They quickly recruited Michael Schriever and Jörgen Hult. From the outset they decided to run SG differently from the traditional club model, which had previously been shown to be less efficient to manage. SG is now a non-profit organization. In 2009, Thomas Andersson was added as a new member. The five mentioned above today form The Safety Group.
Jörgen Hult and Christoffer Holm
SG’s work is based on two foundations: competence and a uniform working method within the sport.
1. Competence.
Do we have what it takes? We continually ask ourselves that question. And when we first considered the question in the cold light of day, we weren’t sure. Many of us have extensive experience within the sport, plenty of thorough training and specialized skills in different areas. But we didn’t think that was enough.
Were we (and others in similar positions) just continuing to follow old habits? The fact is that technical developments in our sport continue at a rapid pace. There are new technical solutions, structures and safety features emerging all the time. And don’t forget ever-increasing speeds and their accompanying hazards. At
the risk of sounding pessimistic, we believe that every day and every event that passes without incident brings us closer to a major accident.
The other Safety Group founder - Jouko Sjöstedt
The only purpose
of this way of thinking is to focus us on our goal. We do NOT intend
to find ourselves one day regretting our failure to meet the
standards we claim for ourselves simply because we hadn’t trained
enough or kept abreast of the latest developments!
For us there are two important factors in this area: exercise and
information gathering. By “exercise”, we mean being as efficient as
we can with our equipment and as comfortable as possible in its
handling. That encompasses everything
from personal equipment to different fire-fighting products, cutting
tools and so on; practice sessions and refresher courses take place
regularly. By “information gathering”, we mean the way in which we
keep ourselves continuously updated on technical developments,
irrespective of category or type of vehicle. We
want to know what has been added and what’s new from year to year,
how it functions and how it will affect
our work.
Fast facts;
- SG is an independent non-profit organization which works according
to the rules of the sanctioning body SBF.
- During 2010 SG has participated in 18 racing events. Most were
drag races with the addition of some circuit races and a rally
event.
Demonstrating for real - here with Pro Mod driver Mats
Eriksson acting as the victim