Employee safety should always be a priority for business owners. While it may seem easier to maintain a safe work environment within the walls of your office or business, ensuring worker safety while employees are on the road is just as important — especially when it comes to distracted driving.
Here at Quincy Mutual Group, we want to help you keep your employees safe, no matter where they are. If your business requires employees to drive for work, here are a few tips to help them drive safer.
Create a Safe Driving Policy
Does your business have a safe driving policy? Many businesses have basic safety requirements for drivers, like having a valid driver’s license and a minimum number of years of driving experience or always wearing a seatbelt. But if you don’t specifically discuss distracted driving, you’re doing a disservice to both your business and your employees. A comprehensive safe driving policy should explicitly prohibit distracted driving and should apply to all employees driving any company vehicle or their own personal vehicle for business use. Restrict the usage of any devices that could cause a distraction — this includes cell phones, GPS devices, and laptop computers.
Your policy should also outline what to do if something does come up while an employee is driving. A good practice would be to have your employees safely pull over before using any devices. Take time to assess other company policies as well to make sure they don’t contradict your safe driving policy. For example, if you require employees on the road to always answer their phone or to respond to messages within a certain period of time, this could make them feel as though they need to use their phones while driving.
Talk to Your Employees
Having a safe driving policy isn’t enough — make sure to discuss the risks of distracted driving as well. Remember, cell phones aren’t the only source of distractions for drivers. Things like eating, grooming, setting navigation systems, changing the music, or even just being lost in thought can all cause cognitive, manual, and visual distractions that put you at risk on the road. To learn more about what qualifies as a distraction and how to avoid them, read our Distracted Driving blog. You should also take time to go over the specifics of your safe driving policy to make sure employees fully understand what is expected of them and that they don’t have any questions.
We hope these tips help you keep your employees safe, no matter where they are. If you have more questions, however, you can always contact one of the more than 500 independent insurance agents we work with who are ready to help you protect your business: bit.ly/QuincyFindAgent.
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