When employees drive for any work-related reason in BC, your organization needs to address road safety in its OHS program. You may not have staff who make deliveries, but your staff may drive occasionally to make sales calls or pick up office supplies. They're all driving for work.
And with winter approaching, safety professionals need to prepare and plan now to keep staff safe when they drive or ride in work vehicles.
Winter driving can be dangerous, no matter how little time workers spend behind the wheel or how much experience they have.
Nearly 40% of all work-related crashes resulting in injury and time off work occur from November through February in BC. Crashes are the leading cause of work-related traumatic deaths.
Use these tips from
ShiftIntoWinter.ca to help keep workers safe and on the job.
Road Safety at Work suggests 5 things you can do this year to help keep employees safe.
Work vehicles are workplaces in BC
Vehicles used for work are deemed workplaces in BC. So employers and supervisors have
legal responsibilities for employees who drive at any time for work, even if it's only occasionally. The rules apply whether drivers use company-owned or employee-owned vehicles.
Your organization needs to ensure anyone who drives for work is:
- Aware of driving hazards and knows how to assess and manage risks
- Properly trained for winter driving
- Given the equipment and supervision they need to stay safe
You can easily build a case for road safety, using Why
Road Safety Matters.
Steps you can take
Plan now, before winter weather arrives. Involve employees to help develop or update your organization's
winter driving safety policy. Make sure they know and follow your organization's rules.
Give them our guide on
what workers need to know. Steer them to
DriveBC.ca for road and weather reports so they "know before they go." Remind them to slow down and increase their following distance to at least 4 seconds.
The basics include installing 4 matched winter tires (look for the 3-peaked mountain and snow flake symbol) with good tread and doing a maintenance check-up. Place an emergency kit in every vehicle. If employees use their own vehicles for work, remind them they need to follow these guidelines too.
- Provide winter driving training.
Drivers benefit from winter driving training and reminders. Use ShiftIntoWinter.ca's
free resources. In addition to resources listed above, they include a
Winter Driving Safety Planning Tool Kit,
tailgate meeting guides, and much more.
