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	Celebrate Safe Driving with Your Employees! October 4-8, 2004 is Drive Safely Work Week
Join the thousands of employers who have made the commitment to the safety and well being of their employees by celebrating Drive Safely Work Week! Drive Safely Work Week (DSWW) is a widely observed national campaign sponsored by NETS to help employers promote safe driving practices within their places of business. During this week, employers incorporate traffic safety measures work to improve the safety and health of their employees and reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries in their workforce. The theme for this year’s 8th annual campaign is “Safe Drivers are Good Company. Make Safe Driving Your Business.” It incorporates five positive driving behaviors that every driver should follow to ensure their safety and the safety of others. Whether driving is a regular part of the job or just commuting, every employee could benefit from taking a harder look at his or her driving behaviors…it could just save their life. For the first time, all the campaign materials you need to launch a successful campaign will be available FREE on our web site. Beginning June 1st you will have access to the DSWW E-Tool Kit, where you will find: A Campaign Action Plan Employee Awareness Activities Fact Sheets Sample Newsletter Articles Camera-Ready Artwork Resource Catalog Be sure and bookmark this page for quick reference! Tired of throwing the “average” campaign that generates little employee involvement? Want to stand out among your colleagues? Make Drive Safely Work Week the best campaign your company ever participated in by purchasing the supplemental CD-Rom. This dynamic resource is full of fun and interactive multimedia messaging tools that are sure to make every employee take notice. The CD-Rom will be available for $50 on June 1st.
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	Novice Driver Road Map
The biggest risk facing teens today is not drugs, or alcohol, school violence or suicide, it's motor vehicle crashes. These crashes are the number one killer of young people; the situation is most dangerous for 16-year olds. A study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found motor vehicle crash rates were decreasing for every age group except those 16 years of age. At 16, teens are getting their driver's license. Compared to the past, today's teens have greater access to a car and are exposed to more high-risk driving situations, such as night driving. As a whole, teens are more willing to take risks and less likely to use seat belts. Additionally, they are more likely to underestimate the dangers associated with hazardous situations and are less able to cope with such dangers. A decline in driver's education has made a bad situation worse. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), because of budgetary cutbacks and reduced federal aid, only half of the high schools in the U.S. offer driver education, down from about 75% in the mid-1970s. Traditionally, states have required beginning drivers to have very little experience before obtaining a driver's license. It is becoming increasingly clear to licensing agencies and highway safety experts that the only thing standing between a teen and a car is the parent's written consent on the learner's permit and access to an automobile. In an age of two-parent working families and single parent families, the newest driver in the family is viewed as a convenience for running errands, picking up siblings or driving themselves to activities and school. What is the answer to the novice driver problem? It is a question that is gaining more and more attention as states pass graduated licensing laws mandating, among other things, that parents spend a minimum number of hours practicing with their novice driver. The majority of parents are concerned about their children and want to make sure they are safe behind the wheel. But they face many constraints to providing adequate practice. - Lack of time for both adults and novice drivers. - Pressures of work and day-to-day living. - Lack of knowledge, tools and resources on how to provide guided practice. - The stress of spending time with the teen. That is why the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) produced The Novice Driver's Road Map with support from the UPS Foundation. The Novice Driver's Road Map is designed to provide the missing link in a novice driver's education - practice. This booklet helps an adult coach guide the novice driver through a series of eight suggested driver or practice sessions starting with an empty parking lot and progressing through driving on a freeway. The Coach's Game Book contains important information on being a positive role model, what mistakes to expect, how to select a driving school and a teen/parent contract. NETS is offering The Novice Driver's Road Map to employers that want to keep health care costs down as well as to licensing agencies, highway safety organizations, judges, schools, and Safe Communities coalitions. The Road Map and Game Book have been reviewed by a panel of highway safety and driver education experts, field tested with a focus group of parents and pilot tested in three states. Feedback indicates the booklet is effective due to its user-friendly, step-by-step instructions.
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	Distracted Driver Tool Kit
A Lesson in Road Sense We've all seen them - people driving down the road reading the newspaper, putting on makeup, or concentrating on a cell phone conversation. Those are the most obvious examples of driver distraction. What may surprise many people are the number of other things we do in our cars that take attention away from the primary task of driving. Driving is a risky activity. Each year, more than 40,000 people are killed in motor vehicle crashes and over 3 million are injured. Research indicates that driver distraction is a contributing factor in 25-50% of all crashes, causing an estimated 4,000 to 8,000 traffic crashes each day, the impact on employers is significant. These crashes pose a major risk to employers of all sizes which ultimately means a risk to the companys' bottom line. A few simple steps can reduce the risk. NETS developed the Distracted Driver Tool Kit so that employers would have a training program to enable their employees to identify potential distractions while driving and develop techniques and strategies to better manage these distractions. The Tool Kit contains a video highlighting eight scenarios of in-vehicle distractions, a Leader's Guide, a Rate-Your-Risk Quiz, incentives and other useful tools and information. The program keeps employees focused on the task at hand-driving-and reinforces that drive-time is not down-time! During DSWW 2001, NETS released the results of a national telephone survey conducted in August that showed that distracted driving has become an increasingly dangerous trend. Nearly all drivers-94%-reported having engaged in activities that are potentially distracting while driving. More startling, 39% of respondents reported engaging in distracted driving activities primarily while driving for work. These survey results highlight the need for increased involvement from employers who often bear the costs when an employee is involved in a traffic crash. Through education and training programs sponsored by NETS, employers can provide training that will enable employees to identify potential distractions while driving and develop techniques and strategies to manage and minimize distractions. To view the results of the Distracted Driving Survey described above, select the graphs below. Activities Drivers Engage in While Driving Participation In Activities for Work or Personal Purposes Believe Behavior Is “Very Dangerous” To help employers teach their employees to manage driving distractions, NETS created the Distracted Driver Tool Kit.
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	Buckle-Up Employees: A NETS Corporate Seat Belt Program
Every 14 seconds someone in the United States is injured in a traffic crash and every 12 minutes someone is killed. Seat belts are the most valuable safety device in a motor vehicle and the most effective means of reducing injuries and fatalities in a crash. They are the best defense against the risky driving behaviors on our roadways. Currently, 79% of Americans wear their seat belts, the highest usage rate since the federal government began conducting national surveys in 1994. But many more lives could be saved if seat belt use continued to increase. For every 2 percent increase in seat belt use, there are 6 million more users, resulting in 500 additional lives saved per year. If America's seat belt use rate climbed to 85%, 4,194 lives would be spared, 102,518 injuries prevented and $6.7 billion saved each year! These facts make the case--America needs to buckle up. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death in the workplace and a leading cause of work-related disabilities (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001). There is evidence that many motorists do not wear seat belts on the job and recent research findings indicate that belt use among those driving for work may be lower than among other vehicle operators. Seat belt use is an inexpensive and effective way for employers to reduce occupational deaths and injuries. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that using seat belts reduces the risk of death among front seat occupants in passenger vehicles by about 45 percent; the risk reductions among occupants of pickup trucks are estimated to be 60 to 65 percent. Businesses incur enormous economic costs each year from traffic crashes through lost productivity, workers compensation and medical costs, and higher insurance premiums. Employers have a crucial role to play in increasing seat belt use and safeguarding employees – their most valuable asset. Specifically, employers should: -Determine their current corporate seat belt use rate. -Implement a strong policy requiring employees to wear seat belts when driving on company business (and encourage them to do so on personal time, too). -Communicate to employees through organizational channels (newsletters, email, posters, seminars, training classes, etc.) the company’s commitment to safety and health and specifically to the importance of wearing a seat belt, every trip, every time. -Institute activities and programs that incentivize the use of seat belts and a recognition program for those employees who buckle up. -Support local and national high visibility enforcement efforts to promote seat belt use. To support America's workforce, NETS has developed a corporate seat belt program for employers. The easy-to-follow program includes seat belt policies, daily campaign messages and activities, a corporate newsletter article, presentation templates, camera-ready artwork for ads, flyers and paycheck stuffers, a poster, strategies to incentivize belt use, and instructions for conducting an on-site observational survey to determine your corporate use rate. When you achieve an 85% seat belt use rate, fax the Seat Belt Salute Application in your kit back to NETS at 703-891-6010 to receive a handsome certificate and to be saluted on this website. To order the soon-to-be-released corporate seat belt program or to select and purchase incentives to support your safety belt program, go to our Resource Center or call 703-891-6005. How to Determine Your Corporate Seat Belt Use Rate Seat Belt Survey Instructions - (Could take a minute to load) Observational Seat Belt Use Survey Form - (Could take a minute to load) Click Here for a Sample Seat Belt Policy
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	Traffic Safety Primer: A Guidebook for Employers
Developed by some of the nation’s leading fleet managers and workplace traffic safety experts, the NETS Traffic Safety Primer: A Guidebook for Employers is a fundamental resource for employers seeking to develop, establish, or improve their workplace roadway safety plan. Published initially in 2004 and updated in 2005, the Primer describes a 10-step system for implementing a workplace roadway safety program. It provides guidelines, best practices, and sample policies for an organization to improve its traffic safety performance and minimize its risk of motor vehicle crashes and the ensuing human and financial costs. The Primer is a useful resource for any organization regardless of size of the organization, number of vehicles involved, type of traffic encountered, or whether employees drive for work or commute to and from work. Available in 2005 in cooperation with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Guidelines for Employers to Reduce Motor Vehicle Crashes, was released to promote the use of the NETS 10-step system to employers nationwide. Why Does Your Organization Need A Traffic Safety Program? You need a traffic safety program to save lives and to minimize the risk of life-altering injuries within your workforce. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the United States. You need a traffic safety program for protection – to protect your human and financial resources and to protect against the risk of catastrophic losses, actual and legal. The liabilities, particularly in this country, associated with employees driving on company business or operating a fleet of company vehicles are potentially staggering. The development, implementation, enforcement, and monitoring of a strong traffic safety program is the first, best, and perhaps only defense against the potential company and personal liabilities associated with motor vehicle crashes involving employees driving on company business. Such a program is your first line of defense. Your program should reflect a company culture that values safe driving behaviors. The program should work to keep the driver and those with whom he/she shares the road safe. And, if necessary, the program must work to change driver attitudes, behavior, and skills to build and sustain the “be safe” culture. What are the Benefits to Organizations that Manage their Risk? ·Lower operating costs: If your organization has a fleet of vehicles, either owned or leased, managed risk can result in lower vehicle insurance premiums, smaller repair bills resulting from fewer crashes, fewer out-of-service vehicles or injured employees, less management time devoted to paperwork involving crashes, and lower vehicle fuel costs. ·Improved employee relations and higher morale: Organizations that demonstrate their care for employees often experience an increase in productivity and in staff retention. ·Enhanced corporate image: Organizations that develop a strong safety culture and are recognized for their commitment to safety are well respected in their communities. To summarize, a workplace traffic safety program is important: ·To help you control the costs associated with motor vehicle crashes in the workplace ·To establish expectations regarding safe driving practices ·To reduce your risk of liability ·To identify loss prevention and control strategies that will benefit your organization and positively impact your bottom line ·To plan for the unexpected ·To document management’s commitment, responsibility, authority, and accountability for safe driver and vehicle operations ·To document and communicate traffic safety policies and procedures ·To satisfy local, state, and federal laws and regulations governing traffic safety in the workplace There is a significant benefit in implementing a traffic safety program in any organization. If the benefits listed above are not convincing, an important discussion of the risk and potential liabilities associated with uncontrolled and unmonitored company driving privileges follows. Exposure and Liability Analysis Motor vehicle crashes and their ensuing costs may be the most accessible and most reducible costs associated with the workplace. Those responsible for employee health and well-being and Workers’ Compensation can positively impact a company’s bottom line in a remarkably direct and significant way, by calculating the total cost of crashes involving motor vehicles, and subsequently designing and implementing a traffic safety program targeted at reducing those unnecessary expenses. In 2002, the lives of 42,817 people were lost as a result of traffic crashes. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death on the job, accounting for over 2,000 deaths in 2002, over 30% of all occupational fatalities. Crashes on and off the job have far-reaching financial and psychological effects on employees, their co-workers and families, and their employers. There are direct, indirect, and intangible costs associated with motor vehicle crashes in the workplace. Of these, the threat of litigation and the legal and financial obligations that arise out of that litigation are potentially the most damaging to your organization. Compensatory and punitive damages, awarded by employee-sympathetic juries, based on tried and true legal principles, are typically significantly large awards. How can corporations protect themselves against such potentialities? Risk managers reduce the threat of litigation by reducing risk. Reducing risk in turn minimizes potential and actual liabilities. Lower risk and reduce liabilities to minimize payouts and costs. Reducing the risk of motor vehicle crashes within your organization is the right thing to do. But employers also have a legal obligation to ensure that their drivers stay safe on the road. There are seven fundamental legal principles outlined in the Primer that corporate managers would do well to understand and communicate to all involved in driving on company business. How Does an Employer Protect their Organization? The development, implementation, enforcement, and monitoring of a strong traffic safety program is the first, best, and perhaps only defense against the potential company and personal liabilities associated with motor vehicle crashes. Such a program is your first line of defense against the potentially staggering costs that arise out of motor vehicle crashes involving employees. Such a program allows the company to be proactive in controlling crash risks. At a minimum, the program designed for your organization should have the following common characteristics: ·It should reflect a company culture that values safe driving behaviors. ·It should work to keep the driver and those with whom he/she shares the road safe. ·It must work to change driver attitudes, behavior, and skills needed to build and sustain the “be safe” culture. Benchmarking – Does Safety Pay? To begin to understand the impact of motor vehicle crashes on your organization the Motor Vehicle Crash Cost Worksheet provided in the Primer can help you to calculate the cost of your crashes. You may want to use one recent crash as an example to work through this sheet to appreciate the magnitude and complexity of such losses. Once you master the worksheet for one crash, you can then apply it to all the crashes experienced in a chosen time frame (i.e., annually) within the organization to characterize your company motor vehicle crash loss profile. If you know (1) the magnitude of your losses and (2) the actual or estimated cost of designing and implementing a traffic safety program as described in this Primer, you can calculate the return on investment (ROI) or the cost/benefit ratio (C/B) for such a program. Examples abound of the positive ROI and C/B realized by companies, small, medium, and large, who have implemented well-designed traffic safety programs for the benefit of their employees. These facts and figures demonstrate that committing resources to reducing actual crash loss figures and protecting your organization from potentially catastrophic liability is well worth the investment! Yes, safety does pay. With that in mind, the Primer focuses on each of the NETS 10-Steps that constitute a sound traffic safety program for employers. The Primer serves as an outline. It is expected that each employer will adapt and build-out these general principles to fit their own, specific circumstances and culture. Traffic Safety Primer: A Guidebook for Employers The Primer recently developed by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) provides public and private sector organizations with guidance in developing, establishing or improving traffic safety programs for their employees. The guidelines are intended as a basis for developing an organization-specific plan. The guidelines are relevant whether you are interested in a safety plan for fleet vehicle drivers, those who drive their personal vehicles on company business, and/or those who simply commute every day to and from their place of employment. The primary components that are necessary to build the foundation for a successful traffic safety program are included in the Primer and are useful for any organization regardless of size of the organization, type of traffic encountered, number of vehicles involved, or whether employees drive company or personal vehicles for work. Developing a proactive traffic safety program is one of the best ways to help control the significant costs associated with vehicle crashes in the workplace. The Primer can identify loss prevention and control strategies that will benefit your business and positively impact your bottom line. Traffic Safety Program Development – A 10-Step Program The NETS 10-Step program provides guidelines for what an employer can do to improve traffic safety performance and minimize the risk of motor vehicle crashes and their ensuing human and financial costs. What are the specific components of a strong, defensible traffic safety program? The majority of traffic safety experts agree that implementing the 10-Step program outlined below is an excellent approach toward reducing and controlling all costs associated with motor vehicle crashes. 1. Senior Management Commitment 2. Written Policies and Procedures 3. Driver Agreements 4. MVR Checks 5. Crash Reporting and Investigation 6. Vehicle Selection, Maintenance and Inspection 7. Disciplinary Action System 8. Reward/Incentive Program 9. Driver Training/Communication 10. Regulatory Compliance Such a program, if implemented, enforced and monitored effectively, provides your organization with substantial protection against employee fatalities, crippling injuries, and the potential liabilities and financial costs associated with litigating and/or settling potentially catastrophic crashes. The three-ring, tabbed binder is used for convenience and quick access to information and can accommodate anticipated updates and modifications.
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	Asleep at the Wheel? A Wake-Up Call for Drowsy Drivers
Being overextended at trying to "do it all" and "have it all," often means operating on less than the optimal amount of sleep. It's a common complaint in the modern world, with full-time work, domestic duties, and a few minutes of exercise, there just aren't enough hours in the day. And to make matters worse, more productive hours are being “robbed” from us because of the congestion on many of our nation’s roadways. Employees are sitting in traffic and experiencing significant travel delays as they commute to work or drive for work. Sleep is a critical factor in highway safety. As Americans become more sleep-deprived, the number of crashes on our roadways involving drowsy drivers is increasing. Fatigue contributes to more than 100,000 crashes each year. The result is often fatal for sleeping drivers and those in the vehicle they hit. Nearly three-quarters of adults in America (71%) drive a car to and from work, and many are fatigued drivers, according to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2002 Sleep in America poll. More than one-fourth of survey respondents said they have driven drowsy to or from work at least a few days a month, 12% drove drowsy a few days a week and 4% said they drove drowsy every day or almost every day. Sleep deprivation and fatigue make lapses of attention more likely to occur and may play a role in behavior that can lead to crashes attributed to other causes. Fatigue slows your reaction time, decreases awareness, impairs judgment (just as alcohol or drugs) and can lead to falling asleep at the wheel. Taking over-the-counter or prescription medications or drinking alcohol, on top of being fatigued, will seriously compound an already dangerous situation. Employers can incorporate fatigue management into safety programs and implement a proactive training program to educate all employees about the risks of driver fatigue and how to avoid it. Through instruction, they learn the risks of driving when tired, how to prevent driver fatigue, and what actions to take if they experience fatigue while driving. NETS recently developed Asleep at the Wheel? A Wake-Up Call for Drowsy Drivers, a CD-Rom-based program with awareness materials and information to help all employees to be more alert behind the wheel whether they drive for work or to and from work.
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