Special Topics in Safety Management

Employers Banning Use of Electronic Devices While Driving Company Vehicles

Even if the state in which your organization operates has a law banning the use of electronic devices while driving, you can’t assume your employees will abide by the law when driving company vehicles.

Employers “cannot rely on state legislation alone to keep employees safe and protect their bottom line,” says Jack Hanley, executive director of the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), a partnership between the federal government and leading companies.

He says employers should:

  • Develop policies on the use of electronic devices while driving company vehicles
  • Communicate those policies to employees
  • Educate employees about the policies
  • Enforce the policies
  • Measure their effectiveness
  • Create a cultural expectation that such policies will be followed

Employers have a vested interest in educating employees about distracted driving and related policies. Hanley points out that motor vehicle accidents can:

  • Cause injury or death
  • Expose the company to lawsuits
  • Result in higher medical claims and/or lost work time
  • Damage the company’s image

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NETS Survey Data

Each year, NETS conducts a benchmark survey of its membership, which is composed of large employers. The most recent survey found that 86 percent of members have implemented policies on the use of electronic devices while driving, and Hanley expects that number to be even higher in this year’s survey.

Among employers with a formal policy, 43 percent ban the use of electronic devices while a company vehicle is in motion, and the other 57 percent allow the use of hands-free devices, according to Hanley, who notes that all of the companies ban texting while driving.

Policy Considerations

NETS recommends that employers adopt a policy that is “thoughtful, implementable, sustainable, and able—once the time is right—to evolve to the next level.” For some companies, that could mean moving from a ban on the use of handheld electronic devices while driving to a hands-free ban as well.

When creating or updating a policy on the use of electronic devices in company vehicles, he also recommends that employers:

  • Use the term “electronic devices.” “Most companies don’t use the term ‘cell phone,'” Hanley says. Instead, they use “electronic devices [so] that there isn’t any wiggle room when people interpret the policy.”
  • Ban texting outright. “Texting is a form of Russian roulette, and, clearly, texting is banned—period—while a vehicle is in motion.”

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  • Check out relevant city and state laws. For “up-to-the-minute” updates on state laws pertaining to the use of electronic devices while driving, Hanley recommends visiting www.ghsa.org, website of the Governors Highway Safety Association®.
  • Participate in NETS’ Drive Safely Work Week campaign. The campaign takes place in early October every year (see Safety Training Tip, Friday, October 1). This year’s event, for example, focused on distracted driving and addressed the creation of policies on cell phone use and texting.

Tomorrow, we’ll review some key safe driving training points for all employees, whether they drive on the job or just commute to work in their own vehicles.

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