In preparation for the 2014 Drive Safely Work Week (DSWW), celebrated Oct. 6-10, the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) produced a free DSWW online tool kit to help initiate or strengthen employee safety programs by including road safety.
Themed “Driving your safety culture home,” the kit is free to download via the NETS website. It includes campaign graphics and materials targeted to leadership as well as the employee base. Moreover, it builds the case for executive leadership to adopt safe driving as a part of the corporate safety culture and provides low-cost steps to engage employees, with a starting point focused on seat belts and mobile device use while driving.
“Whether driving for work, commuting to and from work or running errands after the workday is done, the time spent behind the wheel is very likely the most dangerous part of an employee’s day,” said NETS Chairman Joseph McKillips, senior manager of commercial program support, global environment, health and safety at Abbott. “Addressing road safety in the workplace for all employees is the right thing to do and beneficial to an organization’s bottom line.”
According to a recent report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the annual economic cost of crashes is $277 billion or nearly $900 for each person living in the U.S. Furthermore, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death on the job and the second-leading cause of unintentional fatal injuries off the job, according to the National Safety Council’s latest Injury Facts report.
NETS members collectively represent a fleet of more than 600,000 vehicles that travel in excess of 11 billion miles globally each year. The DSWW campaign was developed using the expertise of NETS’ member companies and put together by NETS, partnering private-sector companies and the federal government.
“Traffic crashes are a common yet highly preventable issue for employers, and building a safety culture can be a lengthy and challenging process,” McKillips said. “The DSWW campaign provides tools and resources specifically designed to engage leadership to help employers take meaningful action.”
