The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is recommending ways employers can prevent the leading cause of work-related fatalities: motor vehicle crashes.

NIOSH has issued two companion fact sheets, "Work-Related Roadway Crashes: Who's at Risk?" and "Work-Related Roadway Crashes: Prevention Strategies for Employers," in conjunction with World Health Day 2004, the theme of which is road safety.

To prevent job-related fatalities in motor vehicle crashes, employers should establish and enforce workplace driver safety policies, NIOSH recommends. Occupational safety and health professionals also can help by promoting safe driving practices among employees, supporting collection and analysis of data needed to identify risk factors and interventions, fostering partnerships, and assessing interventions, NIOSH adds.

NIOSH has also analyzed data to determine risk factors for work-related car crashes. In one study looking at data from 1997 to 2002, the agency found that 56 percent of fatally injured workers were not wearing a seat belt or had no seat belt available, and 28 percent were wearing a seat belt. Factors associated with the worker's vehicle that were judged to have contributed to the fatal crash were: running off the road or failing to stay in the proper lane (46 percent), driving over the speed limit or too fast for conditions (23 percent), driver inattention (11 percent), and driver drowsiness (7 percent).

NIOSH's Tips

• Provide a key member of the management team with responsibility and authority to set and enforce a comprehensive driver safety policy
• Require use of seat belts by all persons in a vehicle used on the job.
• Select vehicles that provide high levels of occupant protection.
• Maintain complete and accurate records of driving performance.
• Stipulate that driving is a task that requires full attention, including instructions to avoid placing or taking cell phone calls while the vehicle is in operation.
• Set schedules that allow adequate time for employees to make deliveries or visit clients without violating traffic laws or safety regulations.
• Ensure that employees are properly licensed and trained to operate the vehicle they are assigned.
• Implement a vehicle maintenance program that includes pre-trip inspections, immediate withdrawal from service of any vehicle with mechanical defects, and regularly scheduled withdrawal of vehicles for comprehensive inspection and maintenance.

"Work-Related Roadway Crashes: Prevention Strategies for Employers," is available in English and Spanish language versions at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2004-136/ . "Work-Related Roadway Crashes: Who's at Risk?" is available in English and Spanish language versions at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2004-137/ .