Vehicle accidents on or off the job can create serious problems for you, your organization, your employees, and their families.
Consider these facts:
- Motor vehicle accidents are the nation’s most common cause of both accidental death and workplace fatalities (causing one in four fatal work injuries).
- There’s a motor vehicle-related injury every 10 seconds — and a fatality every 12 minutes. Many of these accidents occur during the workday or during commuting time.
- Motor vehicle crashes cost employers $60 billion a year. The average crash costs $16,500, and if an injury results, the tab can reach $74,000 or higher. When a worker dies in a traffic accident, costs can top $500,000.
More than 40% of traffic-related deaths involve alcohol, and another 20% result from the use of illegal drugs. Unfortunately, all too many workers grab a quick drink or smoke a joint on their lunch hour, including those who drive on the job — and even more employees stop off for a few cold ones on the way home.
You’re in an ideal position to help prevent many of these deaths, injuries, and costs by making sure that your employees understand the risks and take the proper precautions whenever they get behind the wheel — whether it’s in a company vehicle or their own car.
Use statistics, photos, or videos of traffic crashes, stories from your own experience, and other “shock” tactics to shake employees out of complacency about driving hazards. Reinforce the message that highway accidents can, and often do, have a tragic impact. Each day, these mishaps hurt not only drivers who cause accidents, but also passengers, people in other vehicles, and the families of all those injured or killed.
