BATON ROUGE, LA -- Delivering pizza to the local college campus...driving around town delivering flowers...racing to a breaking news story. Employees everywhere perform these seemingly routine activities daily giving little or no thought to the possibility that an accident could occur.

Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation (LWCC) is reminding employers throughout the state to educate their employees about driving safely in the "mobile workplace." As part of this campaign, the company is also recognizing the 10th annual Drive Safely Work Week national campaign (October 2-6), sponsored by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS).

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) reports that every five seconds a motor vehicle crash occurs; every 10 seconds an injury occurs, and every 12 minutes someone dies in a job-related vehicle crash.

"Not all injuries occur at a physical workplace," says Mike Dileo, vice president of operations for LWCC. "The fact is, many injuries occur while employees are driving on company business. Employers could greatly reduce risk, while protecting their company's bottom line, by implementing a workplace driver safety program."

While vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death and injury in the nation's workforce, there are ways for employers to prevent these accidents and encourage responsible drivers. 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.

"LWCC recognizes that for many employees their vehicle is their workplace," says Dileo. "For companies with fleets of vehicles, it is especially crucial for driver safety education to be instituted by management, enforced by supervisors and adhered to by all."

For more driver safety information, including topics such as What Employers Can Do to Reduce Their Liability From Auto Crashes, Tips for Avoiding Distracted Driving, Tips for Avoiding Drowsy Driving, and Preventing Vehicle Accidents, visit LWCC's Web site at www.lwcc.com.

LWCC (www.lwcc.com) is a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company.  It is the largest writer of workers' compensation insurance in Louisiana, covering about 23,000 policyholders. The company carries an "A" (Excellent) rating from A.M. Best and, for the fifth year in a row, was named one of the top 50 property and casualty insurance companies in the nation by Ward Group, the leading authority on insurance industry benchmarking.