OSHA Teams with NHTSA and NETS to Create Employer Guidelines for Reducing Motor Vehicle Crashes

Is your company following these new OSHA recommendations? Although these guidelines are not regulatory but advisory, employers are legally responsible for providing a safe work environment, and that often includes motor vehicle safety.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), has released new guidelines to help employers reduce motor vehicle crashes involving their employees. The document, titled Guidelines for Employers to Reduce Motor Vehicle Crashes (PDF), suggests specific actions employers can take to ensure motor vehicle in the workplace and in other areas of their employees' lives, as well. While these guidelines are not regulatory but merely advisory, the Occupational Safety and Health Act does require employers to comply with hazard-specific safety and health standards, and under the General Duty Clause of the Act employers can be cited for not taking reasonable steps to prevent of abate motor vehicle crashes involving employees in the workplace or on company time.

But the Guidelines document concentrates not on potential regulatory liabilities but on the significant costs of motor vehicle crashes to employers both in the workplace and in the private lives of employees. According to the Guidelines, motor vehicle crashes cost employers $60 billion annually. The cost of an average crash to an employer is $16,500, but the typical cost of an on-the-job crash is $74,000 - and a crash resulting in a fatality can cost an employer $500,000 or more. At the same time, the Guidelines document shows that organizations that implement motor vehicle safety programs often realize 3 to 1 or greater returns on investment.

The OSHA-NHTSA-NETS Guidelines document offers compelling reasons why employers should institute driver safety programs:

• To save lives and to reduce the risk of life-altering injuries within the workforce.
• To protect the organization's human and financial resources.
• To guard against potential company and personal liabilities associated with crashes involving employees driving on company business.

The Guidelines document proceeds to offer ten steps for implementing a motor vehicle safety program in the workplace, including regular vehicle inspections, motor vehicle record checks, and driver safety training.
DefensiveDriving.com can assist in implementing a comprehensive workplace motor vehicle safety program in accordance with the OSHA-NHTSA-NETS Guidelines. Contact us for more information about how we can help you save on health care, liability, and payroll costs by building and deploying a driver safety program for your organization.