The National Safety Council recognizes June as National Safety Month and has designated the week of June 9-13 as "Distracted Driving Prevention Week." In conjunction with this observance, Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation (LWCC) is reminding employers to educate employees about the need for attentive driving while in the "mobile workplace."

Whether driving to the office supply store, delivering pizza, driving a fleet truck to a home repair job, or driving across town for a meeting, employees everywhere perform these seemingly routine activities, and many are multi-tasking or inattentive while they drive.

Each year an estimated 284,000 distracted drivers are involved in serious crashes, according to a University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center study. Common distractions cited were adjusting a radio or CD player, talking with other occupants in the car, adjusting temperature controls, eating or drinking, talking on cell phones and smoking. Rummaging through purses, searching on the floorboard for a dropped item, studying a map or reading also are common distractions.

According to the National Highway Safety Administration, nearly 80 percent of crashes involve some form of driver inattention, such as cell phone use and drowsiness.

"Distracted driving is a big problem on our roadways, and it's causing many on-the-job injuries and deaths that could have been prevented," says Mike Page, director of safety and loss prevention for LWCC.

According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2006, vehicular accidents were the leading cause of on-the-job injuries in Louisiana, accounting for 19 highway fatalities or 16% of all deaths in the workplace. Also, in 2006, there were 1,329 deaths caused by on-the-job highway crashes in the United States or 23% of all workplace fatalities nationally.

"While vehicle accidents continue to be the leading cause of death and injury in the nation's workforce, there are ways for employers to prevent these accidents and encourage responsible driving," adds Page. "These include creating written policies and procedures, providing continuous driver training, performing motor vehicle record checks and rewarding employees who adhere to safe driving policies in the workplace."

Tips for avoiding distracted driving and staying safe on the road:

• Deal with potential distractions, such as eating, drinking coffee, writing and checking your messages, putting on makeup, combing your hair and reading, before or after you drive. 
• Be familiar with the controls in your car, including the radio and CD player, before you set out. 
• Keep the radio volume low. 
• Plan your route ahead of time to avoid having to read maps.
• If you have to look at a map, pull over to a safe place. 
• Make it a habit to use your cell phone only when parked; have a passenger take the call or let the call go to voicemail. 
• Keep reading materials in the trunk, so you?re not tempted to read. 
• Ask a front seat passenger to adjust the radio or CD player for you. 
• Avoid emotional or complex conversations while driving.
• Make sure you're well rested and not driving while drowsy.
• Also, watch your speed; keep your distance, and always wear a seat belt.

Employers can improve driver safety by demonstrating their commitment and getting employees involved in workplace driver safety programs. Some guidelines for employers include:

• Have written policies and procedures.
• Establish a reward/incentive program for employees who follow driver safety rules.
• Provide regular driver training for anyone who drives on company business.
• Perform regular motor vehicle record checks.

"LWCC recognizes that for many employees their vehicle often serves as an extension of their workplace," says Page. "For all companies, particularly those that manage a fleet of vehicles or oversee a mobile workforce, it is especially crucial for driver safety education to be instituted in order to reduce the risk to employees."

For more information on driving safety, as well as a variety of other helpful workplace safety topics, visit LWCC's Web site at www.lwcc.com.

About LWCC
LWCC (www.lwcc.com) is a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company. It is Louisiana's largest writer of workers' compensation insurance, covering about 22,000 policyholders in the state. For six consecutive years, LWCC has been named one of the top 50 property and casualty insurance companies in the nation--out of more than 2,700--by Ward Group, the leading authority on insurance industry benchmarking.