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    Workplace Safety Topic

    Safe Driving

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    Montana is a big state. And plenty of businesses, from transportation companies to government agencies, need employees to travel many miles for work. That requires that employees think of their cars or trucks as what they are: rolling workplaces speeding along at some 120 feet per second. The “vehicle workplace” has its own set of safety concerns and rules regarding Personal Protective Equipment (aka seat belts), phone use, multitasking, alcohol consumption and more.

    By taking safety in the vehicle workplace seriously, you can help prevent some of the most serious and potentially tragic accidents for your company and the workers you rely on.

    Getting Started:

    cars steering wheelEven while you consider larger driving policies that your business needs, you can get started encouraging safety right away by discussing one of the biggest threats on the road: distracted driving.

    Whether it’s the phone, eating and drinking, multitasking or reaching, even the smallest distractions can greatly delay driver reaction time – a few seconds can lead to months of downtime out of work.

    Discuss distracted driving openly and frequently with your workers. Since it’s something we’re all tempted to do regularly, reminders don’t hurt. Post these basics somewhere that workers can see them regularly:

    • Pull over to use the phone, email or begin navigation.
    • Allow time to actually stop for meals and breaks.
    • Keep items that might be tempting as a distraction in the trunk.
    • Place things you might need, like sunglasses, in an easy-to-reach spot.