Injury Prevention

A Healthy Respect for Motor Vehicle Safety

Motor vehicle accidents continue to be the leading cause of job-related fatalities, accounting for approximately 1,300 deaths each year.

Collisions between vehicles account for nearly half the fatal events, followed by non-collision events (loss of control and rollover), and collision with stationary objects on the roadside, according to a November 2003 hazard alert by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The burden of fatalities and injuries is not confined to full-time professional drivers such as long-haul truckers. Other employees who operate company-owned vehicles and employees who drive personal vehicle on the job are also at risk - and the responsibility of employers.

So what can you do to protect yourself and your employees? Non-mandatory guidelines from NIOSH recommend that employers do the following:

• Enforce mandatory on-the-job use of seat belts
• Ensure that employees who drive on the job have valid licenses
• Incorporate fatigue management into safety programs
• Provide fleet vehicles that offer the highest possible levels of occupant protection in the event of a crash
• Ensure that employees receive necessary training to operate specialized vehicles
• Offer periodic vision screening and general physicals for employees whose primary job duty is driving
• Establish schedules that allow drivers to obey speed limits
• Set policies in accordance with states' graduated driver's licensing laws and child labor laws

For all of the details, log on to www.cdc.gov/niosh/roadfatal.html.