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Lessons from Distracted Driving Awareness Month

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June is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and while it is quickly drawing to a close, the message remains: Distracted driving is escalating, with 25% more vehicle accidents resulting from drivers talking or texting on cellphones. More cars on the road, especially during summer months, also translates to more accidents.

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Organizations with fleets should take note as motor vehicle crashes are the number-one cause of work-related deaths, accounting for 24% of all fatal occupational injuries, according to the National Safety Council (NSC). On-the-job crashes are also costly, with employers sustaining costs of more than ,500 per property damage crash and 0,000 per injury crash.

Zurich sums up NSC statistics:
Employers can and are being held liable for damages resulting from employee accidents. “We might expect an employer to be held liable for a crash involving a commercial driver’s license holder who was talking on a cell phone with dispatch about a work-related run at the time of an incident—especially if the employer had processes or a workplace culture that made drivers feel compelled to use cell phones while driving,” the NSC said.

The lines believed to exist between employment-related and personal or private life get blurred in some cases involving:

  • Cell phones owned by employees as well as employer-provided equipment
  • Vehicles that were employee-owned as well as employer-owned or leased
  • Situations where employees were driving during non-working hours or were engaged in personal phone calls

To protect themselves and their employees, the NSC recommended that organizations implement and enforce a total ban policy.

“The best practice is to prohibit all employees from using any cell phone device while driving in any vehicle during work hours or for work-related purposes. Regarding off-the-job hours, precedent has been set by lawsuits.

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Thus employers may want to extend their policies to cover off-the-job use of company-provided wireless devices, use of personally-owned devices that are reimbursed by the company, and use of devices in company-provided vehicles. All work-related cell phone use while driving should be banned 24/7,” the NSA advised.

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Companies should also pay attention to other common distractions that can lead to accidents, Zurich adds:

Implementing a Safety Culture for Company Drivers

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Organizations with a safety policy in place for drivers of company vehicles may believe they are protected from liability in case of an accident. What they may not realize, however, is their defense could hinge on documentation of steps they have taken to ensure that the policy is being followed by employees, according to the study, Creating a Safety Culture: Moving from politics to habits, by SambaSafety.

The study found that, regardless of the policy in place, “simply saying that you didn’t know about poor driving behavior will no longer cut it – not when people’s lives and companies’ well-being are at stake.

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With the data readily available today, the courts are sure to ask how you didn’t know.

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”

To implement a successful program, it is important for employees to understand that the company’s policies must be followed by employees at all levels. “If someone in senior management breaks the rules and suffers no aftereffect, what’s the motivation for others to keep things in line?” the study asks.

Additionally, safety policies are not limited to employees whose primary responsibility is driving, or to those who drive company-owned or leased vehicles. According to the study:

Employee-owned or rented vehicles that are used for work-related journeys also must be part of the equation. To decrease liability (in addition to improving safety), policies should clearly state this fact and affirm that the same safe behavior is expected of every driver in the organization – on and off the job.
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That behavior might include non-distracted driving, for example, or even properly maintaining a personal vehicle used for company business to ensure safety and a positive refection of the organization.

Employees need to know that their employer can be held responsible for anything that happens while employees are conducting company business.

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Organizations also need to see that reimbursed drivers have adequate insurance, as well as administering signed driver agreements, providing uniform driver training – and ensuring that all drivers’ behavior and records are continuously monitored.
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To move into a safety culture, SambaSafety advises organizations to keep their program in line with company principles, values and brand. Also important is working with the company’s existing culture:

Employees in a high-energy, competitive environment, for example, may enjoy contests between regions vying for the safest driving records. In a top-down culture, on the other hand, employees might respond best to regular tips and reminders from respected senior leaders.

In any case, clear communication can keep drivers from feeling micromanaged or worrying about their privacy and personal information. It can also mean fewer accidents and a higher level of safety for employees.

RIMS Conference Veterans Offer Advice to First Time Attendees

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Last week a member of the RIMS Opis online community asked an important question: “What advice can RIMS Annual Conference & Exhibition veterans give to someone attending the show for the first time?” Luckily, the risk management community rushed in with some sage advice.

First and foremost, several people pointed out how helpful the First Time Attendee Orientation (4:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 23) is. Aside from getting the conference layout, attending the orientation is a great opportunity to meet and get to know people, as “networking is a huge benefit—perhaps the biggest benefit—of attending the conference.”

Here are some other tips from previous attendees to get the most out of the conference:

  • Download the RIMS app. The app will help to keep you on schedule. “I love this app because you can add your own events, see who is attending and plan your schedule. It even has a map!”
  • Leave the uncomfortable shoes at home. The Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia is massive, and attendees will be doing a lot of walking. That said, don’t opt for flip-flops either, as most attendees are in business formal or business casual attire. One commenter shared this helpful system, “I can’t emphasize comfortable shoes enough! I log 25,000+ steps each day of RIMS and it is non-stop from morning to night. I bring a backpack and carry dressier shoes if I need to put them on for a specific meeting during the day.”
  • Take advantage of free food. “If you work this out right, you won’t buy any meals (except the occasional),” one commenter said. “There are many opportunities to eat for free at a RIMS Annual Conference, and that’s just on the tradeshow floor!” There are also several evening events hosted by underwriters and brokers, some of which splurge on impressive entertainment.
  • Get organized, but stay flexible. There are more than 150 education sessions, tradeshow floor activities and general sessions to attend. Before you get to Philadelphia, make note of the sessions you would like to attend, and put holds on your calendar along with location information. That way you won’t feel overwhelmed and flustered when you’re on site. There will inevitably be things that pop up when you’re at RIMS 2017—your plans will change, and that’s OK.
  • Find a show veteran to tag along with. Doing this can help with maneuvering the Exhibition Hall and to learn how to “work” the tradeshow floor.
  • Talk to the people around you. This can’t be emphasized enough. During down time before or after education sessions, during meals and at parties, be sure to meet new people and collect their business cards. Many business deals and careers have received big boosts from new connections made at the annual conference.
  • Bring a very tall stack of business cards!

Finally, a RIMS member advised attendees who don’t want to leave their healthy habits at home amidst all of the activity and parties, to “embrace wellness” with these tips:

  • Take part in the 5K Fun Run. This event will take place on Tuesday morning, before the start of educational sessions. It’s a great way to network, raise money for Spencer Educational Foundation (which supports the next generation of rising risk professionals), and experience the host city with an early morning perspective.
  • Visit the Wellness ZENter. The ZENter will be located centrally in the RIMS Marketplace Exhibit Hall.
  • Drink plenty of water. In addition to the health-conscious choices available at RIMS meals, look for other options, such as infusers and water bottles, in vendor handouts and giveaways.

Fed Program Initiates Life-Saving Training for Shootings, Terror Attacks

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The length of time victims wounded in school shootings and terror attacks must wait for help from an EMT could be minutes or hours—during which time they could bleed to death.

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This has happened in a number of cases, including a shooting at an Orlando nightclub in June, when a woman bled to death while waiting for help to arrive.

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These incidents have prompted the Department of Homeland Security’s Stop the Bleed campaign, a nationwide initiative to empower individuals to act quickly and save lives in emergency situations. Bystanders are asked to take simple steps to keep an injured person alive until medical care is available.

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Security guards, custodians, teachers and administrators are being trained at schools and other places to administer first aid until help arrives.

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Stony Brook University Hospital’s trauma center is spearheading training for school districts and colleges across the country. According to the Associated Press:

At a recent training session, paramedics and doctors brought in fake body parts—blood spurting from the wounds—to show staffers of a Long Island school district how to tie tourniquets and pack open wounds with whatever they have.

“Seconds matter. It really can be minutes when you can lose your life,” said Dr. James Vosswinkel, the chief of trauma and emergency surgery at Stony Brook University Hospital, who led the training.

Doctors emphasized that in the critical seconds after an attack it’s important for teachers and other school staff to stay calm and begin assessing injuries. Teachers learned to apply tourniquets in case a student is shot in the arms or legs—using T-shirts or belts, if necessary—and to stick anything they can to pack wounds in the torso.

Stony Brook doctors have reached out to local schools to offer the training, but are looking to expand the program as part of a federal Department of Homeland Security initiative to other schools, colleges and police departments across the country.

“Nobody should die from preventable hemorrhage,” Vosswinkel said.