The ‘Heartbreaking Reality’ Of Workplace Traffic Deaths

01.04.2024 - 03:03 / forbes.com

Fatal traffic crashes are the leading cause of work-related deaths each year in the United States. Nearly 40% of deaths on the job occur on American roads, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To address these work-place deaths and save lives, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Safety Council (NSC) are convening a panel discussion on the critical role employers play in roadway safety.

“Roadway safety is an integral component of workplace safety, and employers can make a difference in keeping those who drive to, from and for work as well as those who share the road with them as safe as possible,” Lorraine Martin, president and chief executive of the National Safety Council, said in a statement. “Since their establishments, NSC and OSHA have worked with employers to improve safety outcomes for workers.”

The safety groups will host an event on April 10, “Roadway Safety is Workplace Safety: The Need to Eliminate Distracted Driving,” that will focus on distracted driving, a major contributing factor to road deaths every year, including work-related fatalities, researchers said, and takes thousands of lives on the nation’s roads annually and leaves even more people seriously injured.

“Driver distraction – which includes eating, drinking, grooming, day-dreaming, talking and texting on handheld devices and many other actions that take a motorist’s eyes and mind off the road – is a contributing factor in many crashes despite many instances going unreported,” the Governors Highway Safety Association said. In 2021, 3,522 people died in distraction-related crashes, up 12% from the year before and accounting for 8.2% of all road deaths, the safety group noted, based on federal data, and at any given moment during daylight hours, more than 373,000 U.S. drivers are holding a cell phone to their ear while driving.

To bring awareness to this “heartbreaking reality,” Lorraine Martin of the National Safety Council will be joined on the panel by Douglas L. Parker, assistant secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Sophie Shulman, deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Michael Graham, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, and a representative of the private sector.

“Transportation incidents continue to be one of the leading causes of death among America’s workers,” Mr. Parker said in a statement. “Understanding the risks of distracted driving is critical to protecting not only workers while on the road but those around them,” Parker said in a statement. “OSHA wants to make sure that employers know their responsibility to have policies in place for safe driving practices, including work practices and