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The leading cause of work-related death is motor vehicle collisions, therefore making the most dangerous part of your volunteers’ and employees’ workday the time spent on the road on behalf of your nonprofit. If your organization routinely (or even occasionally) has employees or volunteers drive any type of motorized vehicles as part of their job, you should consider vehicles and roadways as an extension of your workplace. To protect your nonprofit’s vital workforce, to guard against liabilities and financial damage, and most importantly, to save lives and reduce the risk of life-altering injuries in your workforce, put in place driver training and safety initiatives as fundamental aspects of your workplace culture.
According to the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), motor vehicle crashes cost employers $47.4 billion annually in medical care, legal expenses, property damage and lost productivity. The average crash costs an employer an estimated $16,500, and when a worker has an on-the-job crash resulting in injury, the average cost spikes to $74,000. In cases where a fatality occurs, costs can exceed $500,000.
Keep in mind that off-the-job crashes—such as those that occur during an employee’s commute to the workplace—can also be costly to an organization, even if there is no legal liability for the employer. This is because the worker will have to be replaced, at least for a period of time, and there are often losses of productivity and staff morale in these situations.
A team comprised of representatives from NETS, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) created a worksheet (see page 32) that outlines the potential contributing costs of motor vehicle crashes to employers, and allows employers to work out just how much an accident will cost them. Costs include both direct and indirect costs, such as:
Many of the factors that contribute to death and injury due to motor vehicle crashes can be eliminated or reduced through education and training. Common factors that may contribute to unsafe driving include:
Case studies on effective workplace driver safety programs have provided insights on the benefits of driving safety initiatives. For example, Charter Communications, a cable service provider in Michigan, has employees that use more than 650 vehicles to drive more than 1.5 million miles per month. After establishing a program to encourage employees to use seat belts when driving, the company increased employee seat belt usage from 74% to 94% during a two-year period.
Depending on the organizational structure of your nonprofit, you may need to work with your human resources manager, safety manager, risk manager, worker’s compensation carrier, accountants, and/or medical and motor vehicle insurance representatives in order to develop a driving safety program that will effectively protect your team. While the fundamental purpose of this type of training for any organization is to benefit your employees and keep them safe, you may still first need to cultivate buy-in for a safety culture through changing and improving driver attitudes and developing safe driving skills within your team members.
The following steps, based on research from NETS and the NHTSA, offer preliminary strides your nonprofit can take to improve driver safety and minimize the risk of crashes involving your nonprofit team members.
There are many benefits to implementing a strong and comprehensive driver safety program, including more efficiently using your organization’s resources, and reducing the likelihood of costly accidents, raising awareness on issues that can be applied to the personal lives of employees and volunteers, and promoting the safety of everyone on our roads. Make the right choice and spearhead a driver safety initiative in your nonprofit.
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