What is the leading cause of workplace death? Car crashes. The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates a quarter of crashes involve cellphones. Employers can play a leading role in ending distracted driving by putting cellphone policies in place. As shown in the chart below, the use of electronic devices by drivers had decreased during the past few years. 2018 saw an increase in use.

#1 cause of workplace death: car crashes

• Drivers using handheld or hands-free cellphones are 4x as likely to crash.
• NSC estimates 20% of crashes involved cellphones.

Companies have paid big for cellphone-related crashes.

$16.1 MILLION
For a salesperson who was talking on his cellphone on route to a sales appointment and crashed, injuring another driver.

$21 MILLION
For a driver talking on a hands-free headset – in accordance with her company’s policy – who struck another vehicle, seriously injuring the other driver.

$24.7 MILLION
For a tractor-trailer driver who, while checking text messages, ran into 10 vehicles stopped in traffic on the freeway, killing three people and injuring 15 others.

Improve your company policy

Thousands of employers prohibit employees from using cellphones while driving. Federal and state laws fall short of best practices safety standards. It’s up to the employer to keep their employees safe with cellphone distracted driving policies. The best cellphone policies cover:

1. All employees
2.  All handheld and hands-free devices
3.  All company vehicles
4.  All company mobile phone devices
5. All work-related communications, even in personal vehicles or on personal cellphones