Workers Compensation Fund February Safety Topic

Implementing a Seatbelt Policy

The Importance of a Seatbelt Policy
Implementing and enforcing a seatbelt policy can save lives, minimize injuries and protect your company against financial losses.

Accident Costs Have a Snowball Effect
After an accident, most employers expect to see increases in workers’ compensation premiums and vehicle liability insurance costs. However, they don’t anticipate the many indirect costs such as hiring and training a replacement or covering sick leave.

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), a vehicle crash with non-fatal injuries costs an employer $73,750, while a fatal crash costs $504,400. Another way to look at it is that for every mile an employee drives, it costs an employer $0.16 in related accident costs somewhere along the line.

The two primary areas where employers bear the costs of vehicle crashes are fringe benefit costs and non-fringe benefit costs. Fringe benefit costs are those paid as a result of an injury or fatality. Non-fringe benefit costs are more indirect costs, such as administrative costs, decreased productivity and replacement training.

Fringe benefits costs include:

• Workers compensation insurance
  
• Disability insurance
  
• Health insurance
  
• Sick leave
  
• Social security disability insurance
  
• Life insurance
  

Non-fringe benefits costs include:

• Motor vehicle property damage and liability insurance
  
• Un-reimbursed vehicle damage and replacements
  
• Lower employee productivity
  
• Hiring and or training a replacement for the worker
  
• Time spent by other employees to run and process these programs
  

Seatbelt Policy Basics
A safe driving program including mandatory seatbelt use can save a lot of money. A report from the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety shows that for every million miles of company travel, a safety program can save $50,000.

Establish a Seatbelt Policy
Develop a strict seatbelt policy that includes training and awareness, enforcement, evaluation — and even employee incentives.

Create Seatbelt Usage Rules
Establish the details of your policy. Make sure it requires employees (both drivers and passengers) to buckle up 100% of the time. This policy should apply regardless of how big or small the vehicle or how quick the trip.

Make Training Mandatory
Even though your employees probably know how to properly fasten seatbelts, don’t leave it to chance. Train all employees on proper techniques for cars, pickups and any other vehicles your company operates. This training lets you make sure all employees understand what’s expected of them.

Raise Internal Awareness
Create an annual or semi-annual awareness campaign. There are plenty of organizations that offer free materials on seatbelt campaigns. This is one of the easiest, cheapest and most convenient ways to support your seatbelt policy.

Enforcement
Be vigilant in enforcing your seatbelt policy. Let employees know that violating the policy carries the same consequences as violating any other company safety rule. Always take progressive disciplinary action for unbuckled drivers.

Evaluation
Create a baseline for comparison of current seatbelt use. Then regularly evaluate your company’s progress toward a 100% buckled-up goal.

Incentives
Rewards can also work toward promoting safe behavior. Why not use them to improve seatbelt use? Offer tokens toward prizes or even larger cash rewards. For more information on creating incentives programs, see the “Safety Incentives” safety topic on the WCF website (www.wcfgroup.com).


Encouraging Employees to Buckle-up

The following organizations offer a wealth of free resources that can help you create and enforce your seatbelt policy. You’ll find everything from training materials and posters to research and technical advice on these sites.

National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA)
www.nhtsa.dot.gov 888-327-4236
NHTSA offers employers highway safety materials and publications (including “The Economic Burden of Traffic Crashes on Employers”), as well as technical assistance.

National Institute for Occupational Health & Safety (NIOSH)
www.cdc.gov/niosh 800-311- 3435
NIOSH provides several publications and guidelines on traffic and fleet safety.

National Safety Council (NSC)
www.nsc.org 630-285-1121
NSC is the sponsor of the National Seatbelt Coalition and the annual Air Bag and Seatbelt Safety Campaign (www.nsc.org/airbag.htm). The NSC website offers an entire section on driver safety.

Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) Highway Safety Division
http://highwaysafety.utah.gov 801-293-2480
The Utah DPS offers educational resources and publications, community outreach and technical support. The website has detailed crash data for Utah.

Utah Safety Council (USC)
www.utahsafetycouncil.org 801-262-5400 or 800-933-5943
USC has information and videos on traffic safety. The organization also offers an extensive array of drivers’ education classes, including defensive driving for the workplace.

Workers Compensation Fund (WCF) Safety Department
www.wcfgroup.com 801-288-8000, ext. 8105 or 800-446-2667
WCF offers several Safety Topics on seatbelt use and policies, and fleet safety. WCF also offers a defensive driving course as part of its safety seminars program.