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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