TWCC Promotes Drive Safely Work Week

Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission announced it is teaming up with employers to promote the eighth annual Drive Safely Work Week campaign, Oct. 4 – 8, 2004.

According to TWCC by the end of the week, nearly 1,000 people will lose their lives on America’s roadways. In Texas, one person was killed in a traffic accident every 2 hours and 34 minutes in 2001. Many accidents involve employees at work or traveling to and from their jobs.

Sponsored by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), Drive Safely Work Week is a national campaign designed to help employers emphasize the importance of driving safely both on and off the job in an effort to reduce traffic accidents.

The theme for this year’s campaign is “Safe drivers make good company. Make safe driving your business.”

The campaign stresses five safe driving hints:

· Add another second … Keep a safe following distance
· Steer clear of trouble … Expect bad decisions by other drivers
· Use good judgment … Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
· Look ahead … Be alert to changing traffic conditions
· Stay alert and focused … No one is crash proof

“One of the best ways to keep employees safe on the road and reduce risk is to educate them about driving safety and promote safe driving practices,” said Robert L. “Bob” Shipe, Acting Executive Director of the TWCC.

Human error is the contributing factor in more than 90 percent of traffic accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drivers’ decisions to tailgate, change lanes abruptly, speed, and pass on the shoulder are factors in three out of five highway crashes. These and other hazardous driving behaviors, coupled with unsafe driver attitudes, can make the time employees spend in their car or in other vehicles the most dangerous part of the work day.

“The Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission proudly supports this year’s Drive Safely Work Week,” Shipe said. “We recognize that it is important for all employees to take a few minutes each day to hear this message and to be reminded how and why it’s important to practice safe driving behaviors every trip, every time.”

The Commission offers resources to help employers teach their employees how to avoid traffic accidents and drive safely. For materials and video loans, employers can contact the Health and Safety Resource Center at (512) 804-4620 or by e-mail at Resource.Center@twcc.state.tx.us.

Employers can also download driving safety publications from our Web site at www.twcc.state.tx.us under “Safety Resources.”