Yesterday, we told you about a company that got tough on distracted driving and experienced great results. Today, we relate another success story.
About 6 years ago, a senior vice president at Sunoco, Inc., was watching a weekend television news magazine. According to Senior Safety Specialist Bill Sanicky, the subject was distracted driving, and the impact was significant. “On Monday we were instructed to put together a policy to get rid of cell phones.”
The essence of that policy is simple, says Sanicky. “While you’re driving, you’re a driver, and all your attention needs to be on that aspect of your job.” That goes for drivers transporting Sunoco fuel across the country, sales people driving passenger cars (their own or the company’s), and anyone else conducting company business.
“We think of ourselves as sales people, engineers, marketers, what have you,” explains Sanicky. “But when we get behind the wheel, we are drivers. It’s not a time to think or talk about one’s next step or next customer. It’s a time to drive with full concentration.”
As well as prohibiting use of cell phones, Sunoco bans putting in CDs, changing the radio, or typing into a GPS.
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Plenty of Grumbling
There was plenty of grumbling when the policy was first announced, remembers Sanicky. Salespeople were especially concerned about getting their jobs done without talking in the car.
But over time, they came to realize that many calls they were taking and making were more personal than business in nature. And once customers understood that their sales reps would not be answering the phone while driving, the calls they made became more important.
Many employers like the idea of controlling the distractions of cell phones and other electronic devices. “But many are sort of giving and taking on this,” says Sanicky. “They allow hands-free phone use, but that’s as far as they go.”
He points to studies that suggest the hazards are not just in dialing manually, but also in the act of talking and placing calls from a Blue Tooth or other hands-free device.
Sanicky considers the distracted driving policy one of the most powerful safety statements that Sunoco has ever made. He says it sends a strong message to employees that their employer actively cares about their well being.
Asked how he would advise other employers, Sanicky says that a policy driven from the top has the best chance for success.
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Train to Prevent Accidents
Whether it’s driving safety or one of scores of other safety and health topics, BLR’s Safety Meetings Library provides the perfect materials for conducting frequent and engaging employee training. This cost-effective resource provides safety meetings, as well as supporting handouts, quizzes, posters, and safety slogans.
All told, the CD provides you with more than 400 ready-to-train meetings on more than 100 key safety topics—a shrewd investment in this time of tight safety budgets. In addition to the meetings’ supplemental quizzes and handouts, you also get relevant regulations (OSHA’s CFR 29), a listing of the most common safety violations cited by OSHA, and case studies of actual OSHA cases and their outcomes.
Safety Meetings Library lets you choose from a variety of training approaches, including:
- Mandatory—Sessions that are OSHA-required
- Comprehensive—Sessions with broadest coverage of a topic
- 7-Minute—Short, simple, targeted sessions to fit tight schedules
- Initial—A session used as introductory training on a topic
- Refresher—Sessions that follow up on or reinforce previous training
- Tool Box Talk—More informal reinforcement of a topic
- PowerPoint®—Graphic presentations for comprehensive initial or refresher training
- Hands-on—A session in which there are training activities
- Spanish—Including Spanish language handouts and quizzes coordinated with English sessions
You can get a preview of the program by using the links below. But for the best look, we suggest a no-cost, no-obligation trial. Just let us know and we’ll arrange it for you.