Boating, Biking, and Beaching: Summer Safety Tips for Employees
Originally posted by Chris Kilbourne on https://safetydailyadvisor.blr.com
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in one recent year, more than 3,000 Americans were injured and over 700 killed in boating incidents. Of the people killed, more than 70% drowned, and more than 90% of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets.
So the very first boating safety tip to emphasize and reemphasize to employees is that everyone in a boat should be wearing a life jacket, whether or not they can swim.
Alcohol is another factor contributing to boating accidents, injuries, and fatalities. CDC says that alcohol use affects judgment, vision, balance, and coordination, and is involved in about a third of all recreational boating fatalities. Boating under the influence of alcohol is just as deadly as drinking and driving. Not only is it dangerous to operate a boat while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, it's also illegal in every state in the United States.
A third point to emphasize about safe boating is that people who pilot pleasure craft should know what they are doing. This means that they should have taken a safe boating course. CDC reports that more than 7 out of every 10 boating incidents are caused by operator error. Boating education courses teach the rules for safe operation and navigation of recreational boats, and can help boat operators keep their passengers safe.
Safe Biking
In 2010, 618 cyclists were killed and an additional 52,000 were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
To prevent bike accidents, injuries and fatalities, NHTSA suggests the following safety precautions:
- All bicyclists should wear a properly fitted bicycle helmet every time they ride. A helmet is the single most effective way to prevent head injury resulting from a bicycle crash.
- Bicyclists are considered vehicle operators. They are required to obey the same rules of the road as other vehicle operators, including obeying traffic signs, signals, and lane markings. When cycling in the street, cyclists must ride in the same direction as traffic.
- Drivers of motor vehicles need to share the road with bicyclists and be courteous, allowing at least 3 feet clearance when passing a bicyclist on the road. Motorist should also look for cyclists before opening a car door or pulling out from a parking space. And they should always yield to cyclists at intersections and as directed by signs and signals. Motorists should be especially watchful for cyclists when making turns, either left or right.
- Bicyclists should increase their visibility to drivers by wearing fluorescent or brightly colored clothing during the day, dawn, and dusk. To be noticed when riding at night, cyclists should use a front light and a red reflector or flashing rear light, and use retro-reflective tape or markings on equipment or clothing.
Safety at the Beach
The United States Lifesaving Association (www.usla.org) offers beachgoers many lifesaving safety tips on their website, including these:
- Don’t swim alone. That way if you have a problem, there is someone there to help.
- Don't swim under the influence. Alcohol impairment affects swimming ability and judgment.
- Swim near a lifeguard. Your chance of drowning at a beach protected by lifeguards is slight.
- If you are caught in a rip current, don't fight it by trying to swim directly to shore. Instead, swim parallel to shore until you feel the current relax, then swim to shore.
- Never dive head first into unknown water. Check for depth and obstructions like rock formations first.
How to Keep Unneeded Lawyers Out of Workers’ Comp
How to Keep Unneeded Lawyers Out of Workers’ Comp (via CFO.com)
Risk Management | November 27, 2012 | CFO.com | US It's no secret that workers’ compensation cases involving attorneys are generally more expensive. In fact, workers’ compensation, started a century ago to remove workers and their employers from the tort system, remains highly litigious. It does…
Employee Involved in Vehicle Crash--Are You Liable?
Source: Safety Daily Advisor
The issue of employer liability for motor vehicle crashes, especially in distraction-related accidents, is heating up as more of these cases make it through the legal system.
We talked about distracted driving policies. Having a policy can do more than put employees on notice that you're serious about phone use. It can even potentially protect you in a lawsuit.
The National Safety Council (NSC) emphasizes, however, that policies that only comply with relevant national or state rules can leave employers vulnerable to liability and costs.
In a white paper titled Employer Liability and the Case for Comprehensive Cell Phone Policies, NSC discusses the legal theory that an employer may be held accountable for negligent employee actions if the employee was acting within the scope of employment at the time of the crash.
The term "acting within the scope of employment" has been defined broadly in a number of cases. Consider the following examples:
· A jury found that a driver and the corporation that owned the vehicle were liable for $21.6 million because testimony revealed that the driver might have been talking with her husband on a cell phone at the time of the fatal crash.
· An off-duty police officer was texting moments before a deadly crash. Because he was driving a police cruiser, his employer was held liable for $4 million.
· An employee was involved in a fatal crash as he drove to a non-business-related event on a Saturday night to make cold calls. The company did not own the car or the phone, but the plaintiff claimed that the business was liable because it encouraged employees to use their "car phones" and lacked a policy governing safe cell phone use. The employer settled the suit for $500,000.
The NSC white paper stresses that to help protect against employer liability a cell phone policy has to be more than words on paper. Employers should be careful not to promote a workplace culture in which employees feel they need to use cell phones while driving.
It's important to point out that employers can never be completely protected in the event of a lawsuit. But Dallas-based attorney Todd Clement argues that they stand a better chance if they can show that they implemented a total-ban policy, enforced the policy, educated employees, and monitored compliance.
Train Today with TrainingToday
Safe driving training should be a part of every employer's safety training program. Whether employees are driving on the job or just commuting to and from work, they need to drive safely to prevent accidents and injuries.
BLR’s TrainingToday can make providing defensive driving training easy, memorable, and effective for both commercial and noncommercial drivers.
Unlike many training solutions available on the market today, BLR’s TrainingToday courses are routinely reviewed and updated to reflect changes in federal regulations or best practices. Each training course is developed by BLR lawyers, industry experts, and instructional designers who have experience across a wealth of industries, topics, and compliance areas.
Courses keep participants interested with engaging audio, built-in exercises, and key points to remember. At the completion of every course, individuals take a quiz designed to test for competency in all the course material presented. Quiz results and course completion times are automatically recorded.
Every course can be tailored with supporting and custom documents. BLR provides supporting documents for courses that include complete slide show notes and the answer key for the included quiz. As the administrator, you have the option of displaying uploaded documents and requiring review before the session begins. This is especially useful for company policies or worksite-specific information. Supporting materials can be added, edited, or removed at any time.
With only a few minutes' setup, you company will have a complete Web-based training program with professionally developed courses, employee testing capabilities, and systematic documentation of employee training sessions and scores. And remember, BLR®TrainingToday courses can be delivered at individual employee desks, in computer centers, at training kiosks, or even in a classroom.
No wonder BLR®TrainingToday was named "Best Workforce Training Solution" by the Software Information Industry Association. It can help you launch a cost-effective and successful employee training program.
We urge you to sign up for a no-obligation demo by visiting the award-winning TrainingToday. Or, feel free to call our customer service people toll-free at 866-696-4827.