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PCCA Journal|1

st

Quarter 2011

41

OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “There’s no question that new

communications technologies are helping businesses work

smarter and faster. But getting work done faster does not jus-

tify the dramatically increased risk of injury and death that

comes with texting while driving.”

Part of OSHA’s education outreach is a new web page

aimed at those whose workplaces are the cars, vans, and

trucks that deliver the goods, services, and people. The web

page informs workers of their rights and employers of their

responsibility to provide safe workplaces and offer best

practices and policies on achieving safe workplaces in motor

vehicles. Information and continual updates are available at

www.osha.gov/distracted-driving.

An open letter to employers, also posted online, requests

that companies examine their policies and practices, informs

them that they have a legal obligation to prohibit workplace

hazards such as texting while driving, and asks them to im-

mediately remove any incentives that may motivate employ-

ees to text while behind the wheel.

“OSHA’s message to all companies whose employees drive

on the job is straightforward: It is your responsibility and

legal obligation to have a clear, unequivocal and enforced

policy against texting while driving,” Michaels said. “Com-

panies are in violation of the Occupational Safety and Health

Act if, by policy or practice, they require texting while driving

or create incentives that encourage or condone it, or they

structure work so that texting is a practical necessity for

workers to carry out their jobs. OSHA will investigate worker

complaints, and employers who violate the law will be sub-

ject to citations and penalties.”

In September, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced

a partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation to

combat distracted driving. Prohibiting texting while driving

is also the subject of an executive order signed by President

Barack Obama last year for federal employees and the subject

of rulemaking by the Department of Transportation.

The Transportation Department reports that in 2009 more

than 5,400 people died in crashes linked to distraction and

thousands more were injured. In particular, texting while

driving has become such a prominent hazard that 30 states

now ban text messaging for all drivers. Learn more about

combating texting while driving and other distracted driver

hazards at the DOT website www.distraction.gov.

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