As we reported in yesterday’s Advisor, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recently recommended that states ban all drivers from using cellular technology—including hands-free and Bluetooth sets.
Safety experts have been saying for a long time that the real safety issue is distracted driving, not hand-held versus hands-free phones. Drivers can be distracted by the conversation as much as by manipulating a hand-held phone.
Will states adopt NTSB’s recommendation?
Matt Howard, CEO of ZoomSafer, which provides technology intended to promote safe driving, believes that’s highly unlikely in the near future, although he does acknowledge that the federal government’s positions on seat belt use, blood alcohol levels, and speed limits have been widely influential.
Howard believes that the current trend at both state and federal levels is to promote hands-free rules—in fact, there are currently two bills in Congress to that effect. And, he says, even adopting NTSB’s rule won’t solve the problem.
“Laws and regulations are easy, but they don’t change behavior. Technology does change behavior.”
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What Can You Do?
ZoomSafer and several other companies, including Cellcontrol, make and sell devices that can be installed in company vehicles to block all cell signals except calls to 911.
The software senses when a vehicle is moving and begins blocking signals. It is sensitive enough to detect speeds of more than 0 miles per hour, but employers can, if they wish, set them to block only at higher speeds.
“Different employers have different levels of tolerance for risk,” says Howard, “ranging from 0 percent all the way up to 100 percent, so they can vary their settings accordingly.”
Settings could also be varied according to whether an individual driver’s route is in a busy or densely populated area, as opposed to a more rural one.
Note that similar devices designed for consumers that can block the cell signals of other mobile phone users are illegal, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
ZoomSafer’s technology blocks signals only to and from the cell phone in the commercial vehicle where it’s installed. Consumers can buy and have installed similar devices for personal cars, such as the vehicle that a newly licensed teenager will be driving.
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Safety Policies for Every Need
It is essential that you have a policy to deal with all they key workplace issues, such as cell phone use while driving on the job. The BLR publication Essential Safety Policies provides you with sample strict, standard, and progressive versions of each policy, so that you can determine which approach is best for your workplace and your employees.
You can use these policies “as is” or adapt them to your organization’s particular needs and style. Each section in the manual provides you with comprehensive lists of points to cover if you want to adapt one of the policies or draft your own.
You can incorporate these policies into your employee handbook, too, to make sure all employees are made aware of your workplace rules and requirements.
And Essential Safety Policies doesn’t stop there—it gives you a detailed list of other important things to consider when you implement these policies, such as interrelation with other policies, employee education, legal considerations, and more.
Take these kinds of materials and multiply them by more than two dozen key safety topics, and you’ll know why Essential Safety Policies is such a valuable tool for busy safety professionals. These policies provide a ready-to-modify or use-as-is safety handbook for all your workers, with minimal effort on your part.
The policies are backed by a tutorial on policy writing and essential materials such as handbook receipts. A CD version is also available.
If your organization could benefit from supplementing (or perhaps having for the first time) a complete set of ready to use safety policies, we highly recommend a 30-day, no-cost, no-obligation, look at this program. Go here and we’ll be pleased to send it to you.
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