Continuing its mission to be a sustainable, responsible, and environmentally-aware restaurant brand in the UAE, The Noodle House, UAE’s home-grown Asian soul food concept has refreshed and enhanced its delivery driver safety initiatives including capping delivery bike speed at 100 kph.
Two years of continuous research and development by The Noodle House operator, JRG Dubai, has culminated in improvements to its 27-strong fleet of customised delivery bikes and new uniforms designed to enhance safety and driver visibility.
With strict etiquette programmes and compulsory refresher courses in place to ensure delivery riders are highly-trained and courteous, The Noodle House delivery team ride under the mantra that they must never put themselves at risk.
“We all know riding a motorbike can be dangerous, so we have spent considerable time in the last two years dedicating resources to ensuring the bikes, riding gear, and driver knowledge through training meet world health and safety standards,” said Emma Banks, Managing director of JRG Dubai.
“While our loyal customers enjoy receiving our takeaways hot and fresh, we consider our drivers’ safety of paramount concern. Our investment in safety outweighs all other concerns, we’ve locked the speed of our delivery motorbikes at 100 kph and trained our drivers to adhere to residential speed limits to ensure all our riders practice safety over speed.
“One accident is one too many, so we have gone above and beyond normal industry standards to ensure our drivers are safe, happy and comfortable.”
Affectionately known as the Doodlers, drivers of The Noddle House’s high visibility yellow bikes cannot take calls or look at their phones while riding. At the start of every shift, the 150cc motorbikes, limited to 100 kph, are put through a rigorous planned preventative maintenance (PPM) check.
“We have focused not only on the design of the bike but also on routine maintenance, personal accountability, ownership, and training in handling and road safety,” added Banks.
The single seater, fuel-efficient motorcycles are fitted with a raft of extra safety features and a padded backrest gives extra comfort. With all bikes complying with the ISO 9001-2008 QSA international safety standard, each one is taken off-road for full maintenance overhaul every 1,000 km and replaced after 150,000 km. On the rare chance that something does go wrong on the road, drivers are given extra peace of mind with a dedicated helpline and maintenance company.
“A key point in considering the bike’s design and safety features was the food delivery box,” explained Banks. “The Noodle House boxes are built into the bike’s chassis, ensuring correct balance and good ergonomics. Most companies simply bolt a box onto the back of the bike or worse some have the rider wear the box, which shifts the balance of the bike. Our super visible delivery boxes, which light up with the brand at night, are also Dubai Municipality and RTA approved.”
The Noodle House has also gone beyond the UAE delivery sector’s normal standards, providing its drivers with personal protective equipment (PPE) which is CE-certified and meets European safety standards.
“From head-to-toe, our uniform ensures our drivers are seen, safe and secure. In all good conscience, we can’t send any of our drivers out there knowing they are not fully protected,” said Banks.
The new uniforms, provided by technical motorcycle apparel experts SPIDI, offer better breathability for the hot weather, but maximum safety. The jackets include D30, a soft material which hardens on impact. Full body armour covers the spine, shoulders, elbows, chest, and ribs. The cotton trousers are lined with Cordura, an abrasion and heat resistant material, and feature extra padding and armour around the hips, knees and ankles.
An RTA-approved high-visibility yellow helmet, wrist-supporting gloves with armoured knuckles and closed-toe, steel-capped boots complete the driver’s safety wear.
