Building accidents value the trade roughly $11.5 billion per 12 months, in response to the Nationwide Institutes of Well being. One sort of concern and collision the trade should take into account is automobile crashes.
These collisions may cause hurt to these engaged on highway development tasks—they usually can even trigger severe risks for these driving to and from websites. April is Distracted Driving Consciousness Month, so it’s an ideal time to reexamine the dangers related to driving distracted whereas working.
The Dangers of Distracted Driving at Work
The NSC (Nationwide Security Council) suggests you’re 4 instances as more likely to crash when utilizing a cellphone whereas driving, and employers are answerable for $25 million for worker crashes, even when utilizing hands-free gadgets. That could be a vital quantity of danger and a big quantity of accountability.
One other report reveals 70% of companies expertise the influence of distracted driving incidents, with 68% citing cell phone use because the main trigger, in response to Teletrac Navman, and 49% report distracted driving has a direct monetary value on enterprise. Whereas the beginning of cellphones utilization in autos has risen considerably since its introduction—of the preliminary cellphone from inventor Martin Cooper—it’s clear the position of cellphones in autos, fleets, and anyplace else for that matter is having an influence on enterprise productiveness and total security.
Employers are chargeable for ensuring staff comply with all legal guidelines—and for guaranteeing the security of all staff. And meaning minimizing distracted driving or strolling on the job usually begins on the prime.
The Case for Protected Driving
Let’s take into account an instance. Owens Corning is an organization with greater than 15,000 staff in 27 corporations that present materials innovation for roofing, insulation, composites, and doorways. Matt Schroder, inside communications and company media relations chief, says the corporate’s efficiency in security had reached some extent the place accidents had considerably decreased, so it may proceed to focus its efforts on eliminating danger earlier than an harm occurred.
Right here the workforce reviewed the Nationwide Security Council information and different public sources of knowledge to find out the way to create a coverage and a tradition of security round cellphone use. The coverage grew to become no cellphone use—handheld or hands-free—and it covers all drivers and applies to any state of affairs the place an worker is conducting any enterprise.
The CEO adhered to it for 90 days earlier than it grew to become firm coverage and the workforce:
- Used the NSC Cell Telephone Coverage Equipment and movies as a base for the plan
- Decided key stakeholders throughout the group
- Recognized potential points with the coverage
- Tried to deal with any points upfront
- Recruited champions from a gaggle of stakeholders
- Created the marketing campaign
- Laid out the plan in a worldwide city corridor
- Applied it over a 60-day interval
Whereas that is one instance, many corporations now have cellphone insurance policies in place that determine the way to work together with gadgets in autos and fleets. Coaching and growing a tradition of security are solely two items of this pie although.
The Case for AI
In lots of circumstances, expertise is a foe within the autos—however can it even be a buddy? Can expertise assist forestall the usage of gadgets in autos? That is a query I’ve been asking right here at Linked World, Constructech, and The Peggy Smedley Present for years.
Let’s take a look at a few of the latest information. Teletrac Navman launched the outcomes of its AI & Driver Security Survey, which is part of its 2025 Distracted Driving and Driver Security Report. It discovered 83% of fleets say AI is the way forward for security. How?
Respondents say AI can be used to:
- Monitor driver habits (32%)
- Predict and stop potential accidents (17%)
- Cut back distracted driving incidents (16%)
- Enhance car upkeep (14%)
- Improve teaching and coaching via information (13%)
Nonetheless, there are a lot of potential roadblocks to utilizing AI on this space. Roughly 23% are involved about information privateness and 14% are nervous about driver resistance.
What are your ideas? How can we remedy the distracted driving epidemic in enterprise? Does it begin with a tradition of security? We’ve got been making that case for many years and nonetheless too many lives are misplaced by individuals who assume they will multitask on the expense of one other’s life misplaced at a jobsite or when somebody is driving will get distracted. Can coaching and expertise assist to curb distracted driving and unsafe habits whereas behind the wheel?
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