제  목 : NIOSH REPORT HIGHLIGHTS MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH RISK FOR WORKERS,
  일  자 : 1998년 08월
  제공처 : Internet

    NIOSH REPORT HIGHLIGHTS MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH RISK FOR WORKERS,
    RECOMMENDS PRACTICAL PROTECTIVE MEASURES
    =============================================================

Workers are more likely to die from traffic-related motor vehicle crashes than
from any other hazard on the job, including workplace violence and
machine-related injuries, but employers and others can take practical steps to
reduce the risk, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) found in a report issued today. NIOSH is part of the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.

Three workers are killed every day ? more than a thousand each year ? while
driving, riding in, or working around motor vehicles in traffic, according to
the report. Highest risks are seen in the trucking service and construction
industries. By occupation, the largest number of vehicle deaths occur among
truck drivers.

"Vehicular safety is as important on the job as off," said Acting CDC Director
Claire V. Broome, M.D., M.P.H., "By taking some basic and effective
precautions now, employers can save lives and reduce costs while research
progresses for further improvements. We know from other NIOSH studies that
motor vehicle incidents are among the leading causes of death for adolescents
on the job, and in 38 states such incidents are the leading cause of
occupational injury death for all workers."

NIOSH recommends that businesses assess their past experience with motor
vehicle safety to identify appropriate measures for preventing traffic-related
death and injury among their employees. In general, effective steps may
include:

     Establishing and enforcing a written policy requiring drivers and
     passengers always to use seat belts.
     Providing a seat belt for the driver and each passenger in each
     employer-provided vehicle, and limiting the number of passengers to the
     number of seat belts.
     Conducting driver's license background checks on prospective employee
     drivers before they are hired.
     Ensuring that drivers comply with designated speed limits, and
     prohibiting workers from driving on the job when they are fatigued.
     Ensuring that employees in construction and maintenance zones wear
     high-visibility clothing and use appropriate barriers and traffic
     control.
     Training drivers in safe driving practices and proper use of vehicle
     safety features.
     Establishing written procedures for proper maintenance of vehicles.
     Equipping new vehicles with appropriate occupant protection such as seat
     belts, and where feasible and appropriate, with other safety features
     such as anti-lock brakes.
     Considering the adoption of U.S. Department of Transportation regulations
     for commercial motor carriers as part of the company's vehicle safety
     program.

"Seat belts, driver training, and similar precautions have become integral to
public safety, saving thousands of lives every year," Broome noted. "With
appropriate adjustments to recognize the ways in which driving on the job
differs from the ownership and operation of a personal vehicle, such measures
can provide the foundation for similar advancements in occupational safety."

"NIOSH developed its new report with input from business, labor, the
Department of Transportation, and others, and we look forward to further
collaboration with these diverse groups to disseminate our findings and
recommendations," said NIOSH Director Linda Rosenstock, M.D., M.P.H. "We also
hope that the report will stimulate further research still needed to identify
risk factors more precisely, and to assess the effectiveness of safety
measures. Traumatic injury and special populations at risk are among the
priority areas for such research under the National Occupational Research
Agenda."

In an analysis of data for 1990-92, NIOSH found that the industries with the
highest average annual rates of death per 100,000 workers from traffic-related
motor vehicle crashes were trucking (12.1 deaths per 100,000 workers), logging
(9 deaths per 100,000 workers), fuel dealers (5.6 deaths per 100,000 workers),
petroleum products (5.2 deaths per 100,000 workers), and agriculture crop
production (4.2 deaths per 100,000 workers). Occupations with the highest
annual average fatality rates per 100,000 workers were truck driver (12.2
deaths per 100,000 workers), garbage collector (11.5 deaths per 100,000
workers), sheriff/bailiff (7.1 deaths per 100,000 workers), farm worker
supervisor (5.2 deaths per 100,000 workers), and surveying and mapping
technician (5.1 deaths per 100,000 workers).

The NIOSH analysis also found that workers fatally injured in vehicle crashes
were mostly male (93 percent); most were aged 25 to 54 (70 percent); most were
drivers ( 76 percent) as opposed to pedestrians or vehicle passengers; most
were not using any type of safety restraint (62 percent); and most of the
drivers showed zero blood alcohol concentration (87 percent).

Copies of the report, "NIOSH Alert: Preventing Worker Injuries and Deaths from
Traffic-Related Motor Vehicle Crashes," DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 98-142,
are available from the NIOSH toll-free information number, 1-800-35-NIOSH
(1-800-356-4674). Copies also will be available shortly on the NIOSH Home
Page, www.cdc.gov/niosh. Further information on NIOSH research is also
available from the toll-free number and on the home page.