OSHA Offering New Guidelines to Help Reduce Motor Vehicle Accidents

Employers and employees who use motor vehicles for work purposes reportedly stand to benefit from new guidelines developed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS).

“Motor vehicle crashes are costly to employers and employees,” said Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jonathan Snare. “This new guidance document will show companies how safe-driving practices and safety-conscious behavior can help employees avoid tragedy.”

The 32-page Guidelines for Employers to Reduce Motor Vehicle Crashes offers information to help employers design an effective driver safety program in their workplace. It features a 10-step program outlining what an employer can do to improve traffic safety performance and minimize the risk of motor vehicle crashes. The document includes success stories from employers who have benefited from effective driver safety programs.

The guidelines include a detailed section on the causes of aggressive, distracted, drowsy and impaired driving, and tips for avoiding such behavior on the road. There is also a sample worksheet for calculating the costs of motor vehicle crashes to employers.

To develop the guidance, OSHA (www.osha.gov) joined forces with NHTSA, the federal agency responsible for helping save lives, prevent injuries and reduce traffic-related health care and other economic costs, and NETS, a nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to traffic safety in the workplace.

The motor vehicle guidance is available from OSHA’s publications page on the Web, or can be ordered by calling the publications office at (202) 693-1888.