A safe company culture can reduce accidents
According to OSHA, employers may be financially liable, through workers’ compensation, for injuries that occur in on-the-job car accidents. Considering how prevalent car accidents are in today’s world – there is a crash every five seconds, an accident results in injury every 10 seconds, and a person is killed in an accident every 12 minutes – it’s crucial for employers to know how to prevent them.
One thing that OSHA recommends is that employers have specific driver safety programs. These could address the simple rules of the road to be sure that employees know how to drive safely when on the clock, putting aside dangerous habits they may have developed. The program could also delve into job-specific driving abilities, which vary from job to job. These could include knowing how to navigate turns in a large truck, for example, or driving safely through a work site that has significant foot traffic and no predetermined roads.
The goal, OSHA notes, is to make a work culture that is centered around safety. Workers may have attitudes that contradict this – perhaps feeling that production and speed are more important – and the program can help to alter those attitudes to fit with the desired company culture.
It’s also been noted that it can help if employers actively reward employees who do act safely. This gives the employees some incentive and a goal to keep in mind, which can help to encourage them to make safety-conscious decisions that may go against their personal habits.
Of course, not all companies have this safety-first culture, and some may even promote dangerous activity by stressing the need for production and speed over safety or not offering proper training. If you’ve been injured on the job, it’s important to know how to get workers’ compensation in Nebraska.
Source: OSHA, “Guidelines for Employers to Reduce Motor Vehicle Crashes,” accessed Aug. 22, 2016