Winter roads can be dangerous for people who drive for work. It doesn’t matter how experienced they are, how often they drive, or whether they use a company or personal vehicle. The risk of being in a workplace motor vehicle crash increases by 27% during November through January in B.C. That’s why it’s time to start planning strategies to reduce winter driving risks for your staff now.
As part of your planning, remember that regulations on tires and chains for vehicles take effect October 1.
The annual
Shift into Winter awareness campaign provides the following tips to help improve road safety for your drivers.
Employer legal responsibilities and tools
Keeping your employees safe is good business. It’s also your
legal obligation. Your responsibilities include ensuring employees:
- are aware of driving hazards and how to assess risks
- are properly trained for driving conditions
- have the equipment and supervision to stay safe
Take time now to develop, update, and implement your
winter driving safety policy and
procedures. Review Shift into Winter’s
Winter Driving: What Employers Need to Know guide as well as our other free
resources for employers and supervisors. They include a winter driving safety tool kit, tailgate meeting guides, and winter tire guide. Use our
winter driving hazards tool to identify hazards, assess risks, and understand control measures.
You can also take our
Winter Driving Safety for Employers and Supervisors online course and register now for our
Keeping Your Employees Safe During Winter Driving one-hour webinar on November 25
.
Chain and tire requirements
Commercial vehicle drivers who travel outside the Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria areas in the winter are required to carry chains, or other acceptable traction devices, and comply with all
signage and regulations.
Drivers using personal vehicles for work need to follow
tire and chain requirements too.
Prepare your drivers
Review our free
workers tools with all drivers – from those who are occasionally behind the wheel to those who drive every shift. Remind drivers that as conditions change, so should their speed. They need to slow down and increase following distance to at least 4 seconds. Drivers of larger vehicles will need to leave more space. It takes longer to stop on a slippery road.
Good practice is to keep chains in the vehicle at all times and know
how to install them.
More free resources
You can find additional tools and information at:
