No matter what kind of highway safety program you have in mind for your workplace-and remember, even the smallest program can bring significant cost savings-you can follow these six simple steps.
Step #1: Obtain Management's Commitment
To develop a highway safety program, you need the support of management. To obtain that support, you need to show that a highway safety program in the workplace is affordable and simple
to implement, that it will alter employee behavior, and that it will have a positive impact on company profits.
How to Approach Management
- Refer to some of the facts and statistics on page 2 to demonstrate the costs associated with traffic crashes.
- Refer to the case studies on pages 4 and 5 to illustrate the potential cost savings of a highway safety program.
- Explain how staff resources could be used effectively to organize
- a program.
- Explain how the program will be evaluated and how progress will be reported to management.
If management is still not convinced of the need for the program, suggest that they conduct a simple needs assessment, collecting information on current costs associated with highway injuries and baseline data on employee attitudes and behaviors related to highway safety. Then, if it looks as if there really is a demonstrable need for change, they will be more likely to support a program.
Identifying exactly what your company pays out for motor vehicle crashes will help you demonstrate the need for a comprehensive motor vehicle and pedestrian safety program. Cost analysis will also enable you to focus the resources where they will be most helpful.
Where to Start
Start by collecting data on both the direct and indirect costs to your company of all motor vehicle crashes in which employees were involved. Work with your human resource manager, safety manager, workers' compensation representative, accountants, and medical and motor vehicle insurance representatives to obtain the numbers you'll need.
Using the Worksheet
At the end of this booklet, you will find Worksheet 1: Costs of Highway Crashes. Identify each itemized expense that is relevant to your company, collect the necessary data, and total your company 's expenditures. If your company has incurred expenses that are not itemized on this list, be sure to add them to the worksheet.
Step #3: Develop An Action Plan
Set concrete objectives.
Write your objectives in terms of concrete, measurable behaviors.
Set a realistic date for meeting each objective.
Example: "Raise employee use of safety belts on the job from 42% to 50% in the next 60 days." Each month, choose activities that support the objectives. In order to ensure that you meet your objectives, you must arrange for ongoing activities that support your goals. When designing these activities, be sure that they relate directly to the attitudes and behaviors you want to change, and assign responsibilities clearly. Example: "Personnel will distribute a fact sheet on the importance of safety belt use to every employee this week."
Design a system for documenting your results.
Assign specific personnel and record-keeping systems for documenting each activity designed to reach your objectives. Note any problems in implementation.
Create an evaluation plan.
Formulate a plan for evaluating the success of your program. In order to have a clear criterion for assessing progress, collect baseline data on relevant factors such as safety belt use before implementing your traffic safety program. Determine exactly how to measure changes in attitudes and behavior. (See Step #6.) Determine who will be in charge of evaluations and how often evaluations will be conducted.
Step #4: Implement Highway Safety Policies
Create a clear and comprehensive set of traffic safety policies and communicate them to all employees. Post them throughout the workplace, distribute copies periodically, and discuss the policies at company meetings. Offer incentives for sticking to the rules, and point out the consequences of disregarding them. Feel free to adapt the following sample policies for your use.
Sample Alcohol Use Policy
"This company has a vital interest in maintaining safe, healthy, and efficient working conditions for its employees. Therefore, the consumption of alcohol by any employee during 'duty hours' is prohibited. Duty hours consist of all working hours, including break periods and on-call periods, whether on or off company premises. The consumption of alcohol while performing company business or while in a company facility is prohibited. The use of alcohol during non-working hours under circumstances that this company determines adversely affect the company's reputation in the community is also prohibited."
Sample Safety Belt Use Policy
"This company recognizes that safety belt use is an important and effective means of protecting our employees. Employees should always use safety belts while traveling on official business, and employees should operate vehicles only after passengers are buckled up. Establishing mandatory safety belt use is now a policy of the highest priority."
Step #5: Implement An Awareness Campaign
Encourage employees to come up with fun, creative ways to boost awareness of safety issues and procedures. Invite suggestions on what types of special privileges and awards would most likely motivate employees to engage in safe driving practices. To get you started, here are some ideas for year-round activities.
Winter
- Create a list of "Duties of a Responsible Party Host," and send it out as a memo or post it on the bulletin board. Include recipes for non-alcoholic beverages and tips on how to handle intoxicated guests.
- Sponsor a "Designated Driver" program at your company 's holiday party. Offer a special gift to any employee or guest who agrees to be a designated driver and abstains from drinking alcoholic beverages that evening.
- For the holidays, donate child safety seats to a local charity.
- Challenge your employees to come up with ideas for alcohol-free holiday activities. Pick one to sponsor.
Spring
- Conduct a safety belt check day. Have parking lot attendants check drivers and passengers as they enter and leave the lot. Different departments or shifts can compete for the highest use rate. Offer
- awards for the winners.
- Start a "Saved by the Belt/Safety Seat/Helmet" feature in your company newsletter. Request first-person accounts of how safety
- belts, car seats, and motorcycle or bicycle helmets saved the lives of employees and their family members.
- Sponsor a brown-bag lunch and invite a speaker from your local highway safety office, police department, or fire station to discuss highway safety issues.
Summer
- Promote the use of safety belts in paycheck stuffers. Remind employees to always obey posted speed limits and not to drink and drive, especially during the busy vacation season between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
- Host a company picnic, and as employees and their families arrive,
- give a reward to each person who is wearing a safety belt, using
- child safety seats, or wearing a motorcycle or bicycle helmet.
- Sponsor a contest in which the children of employees develop traffic safety messages for Father 's Day. Post the entries so that they are visible to employees and visitors. Judge the entries by age group and present the winners with coloring books, free movie passes, or T-shirts.
- Spread the message to your employees that while motorcycles and bicycles are fun, motorcycle- and bicycle-related injuries are not.
Fall
- Send employees reminders about the beginning of the new school year and the need to pay special attention to children boarding and exiting school buses.
- Hold a raffle for safety items such as bicycle helmets and car seats at the next employee meeting. Begin the meeting with a reminder to buckle up, obey posted speed limits, avoid drinking and driving, and always wear motorcycle or bicycle helmets.
- Hold a pizza party or potluck lunch to celebrate a crash-free quarter or month. Feature the event in your company newsletter.
- Collaborate with a local college or high school to offer defensive driving courses to young employees.
Step #6: Evaluate Your Program
At regular intervals, evaluate the progress your employees have made toward reaching your program objective. Consider each objective carefully when deciding what evaluation method to use.
If you are having trouble devising a way to evaluate a certain objective, maybe the objective itself is too vaguely written. Revise it so that it describes a measurable or observable behavior, as in the following example:
(Difficult to measure reliably) "Employees understand the concept of the designated driver."
(Easier to measure reliably) "One hundred percent of employees are able, when asked, to define a 'designated driver' as the member of a group who refrains completely from consuming alcohol at a social event and takes responsibility for driving home friends or fellow workers who have consumed alcohol."
Evaluation should be ongoing. If you learn that your employees' highway safety habits are improving, great! Get the information out to management and the workforce alike to justify the program and reinforce learning. But if evaluation shows that you are not yet achieving success, don't be discouraged. You've just obtained valuable information that can help you refocus your efforts in more productive ways.
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How Helping Your Employees Can Help Your Bottom Line
Success Stories: Highway Safety Programs In Action
How To Get More Help
Worksheets: Cost of Highway Crashes/Sample Evaluation Formats
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