The Importance of Establishing a Safe Driving Culture

Each year, over three million Americans are non-fatally injured in automobile accidents.

Not only does this cause unnecessary pain and suffering to these individuals and their families, but it also creates economic hardships for both families and employers. Medical bills related to car crashes can amount to $75 billion in just one year!

If you’re looking to ensure employee safety and save money while doing it, establishing a safe driving culture in the workplace is essential. Here, we’re going to define what exactly this means and discuss how it can benefit high-level administrators and blue-collar employees alike. We’re also going to give you some pointers on how you can implement this culture in your office, so read on for a more secure and protected workplace.

What Is Safe Driving Culture?

Safe driving culture in the workplace is one where employees understand that there is a need for safe drivers. More than that, however, it’s a culture where these employees make driving safely a top priority.

There are a lot of ways that this can look. You may want to hold monthly meetings to discuss the need for vehicle safety with coworkers and subordinates. This will reiterate the importance of being alert and aware while behind the wheel. It will also make sure that coworkers hold each other accountable for safe driving.

Professionally-taught online courses are another aspect of creating a safe workplace driving culture. With the tools that your employees learn from experts, they will be able to feel more confident on the road and understand traffic rules and regulations thoroughly.

To establish a vehicle safety culture in the workplace, both the CEO and employees must all buy into safe driving philosophy. This is the first step to positively changing attitudes and behavior. When the majority of people are following the rules of the road and believe safe driving to be important, these attitudes are likely to rub off onto everyone else as well.

Who Needs to Implement These Strategies?

As you might expect, every company that has employees who drive needs a safe driving culture. This means trucking companies and delivery and maintenance businesses, of course, but it also means salespeople that need to drive to meetings with clients. Utility company employees also do quite a bit of driving for work, as do university staff and on-site technicians.

However, even occupations that don’t have employees driving for work regularly should value vehicle safety. If employees get into accidents driving on their own, they won’t be able to come into work. Additionally, preventable accidents simply shouldn’t be happening. You don’t want to see anyone hurt.

Benefits of a Safe Driving Culture

Now you know what a safe driving culture is. That means it’s time to look into the specific reasons that implementing one is a good idea. Read on for some ideas as to why you need to invest in creating this attitude in the workplace as soon as possible.

Keeps Employees Safe

Safety should be any workplace’s number one priority. Because your employees trust you to provide for them, it’s essential that you take this task as seriously as possible.  It’s critical that people feel as safe and secure as possible for many different reasons.

First and foremost, people are valuable and deserve protection.  However, there are more quantifiable reasons for an employer to be concerned with employee safety, too. Those who feel secure are more likely to remain focused while at work and perform better than those who experience anxiety.

Stops People From Missing Work

Additionally, if employees get into car accidents, they likely will miss a lot of time at work. If a person is injured after a car crash, they will need time to heal. As a result, they won’t be able to complete their responsibilities at work, which makes day-to-day tasks more difficult for those employees who are still at work. Your operation will be far less efficient.

You may also still need to pay the person who had the accident. While you wouldn’t need to pay worker’s compensation to a person who gets into an auto accident on their own, you may be forced to pay if the accident takes place on workplace property. This is also the case for those who are driving during their time at work to perform tasks related to their jobs.

Saves Money on Insurance Rates

The average company pays nearly $7,000 per year for employee health insurance. Because this is already such a high amount, it’s critical to do all in your power to ensure that these rates don’t rise.

When employees get injured, the amount that you’ll pay in insurance fees can increase. Promoting a safe driving culture in the workplace is a great way to encourage people to be conscious of their safety and prevent injuries. Ultimately, this will lead to your company saving money on insurance. This will allow you to reallocate funds into innovating new software, products, and services.

Prevents Property Damage

Many organizations have at least one company vehicle that employees use for various functions. These vehicles–and the insurance that covers them–are paid for by your workplace. If workers were to get into these cars for site visits and then have an accident, you will have a great deal of property damage fees to cover.

Car insurance rates could also skyrocket and you’re likely going to need to pay to get the vehicle fixed. Additionally, your employees will be left without a way to move from one site to another (assuming that they aren’t meant to use their own cars).

Another reason that safe driving culture is important when driving company vehicles is that you don’t want a lawsuit. If an employee becomes injured while driving a company car, they may be able to sue your workplace. To proactively avoid this, you need to emphasize the importance of road safety and mandate defensive driving courses for employees.

How Can You Establish Safe Driving Culture in the Workplace?

Informing employees about safe driving practices is important. However, it’s not the only thing that you need to do to implement a culture of vehicle safety. The methods for creating and maintaining a safe driving culture vary between different industries and workplaces, but there are many commonalities. Read on to learn some of the actions that you as an employer must take to create this environment in the workplace.

Establish Positive Attitudes

You’ve likely heard that a can-do attitude leads to success, and this is absolutely a true statement. Having a good attitude is proven to be the first step towards accomplishing goals. When the goal is safe driving, it’s crucial that you instill positive ideas about safety and control in your employees.

That’s why one of the best ways to establish a safe driving culture at work is to get buy-in from all employees–starting at the top. Encourage managers and leaders to support a safe workplace plan. Make sure that all workers have a good attitude about road safety. Talk to them frequently about why this is a priority and put up signs around the workplace about vehicle safety statistics.

When one person or group of people is excited about road safety, this attitude is likely to rub off on others around the workplace. Remember that positivity is contagious.

Take a Defensive Driving Course

Implementing a defensive driving course is a solid foundation for any workplace safety program. DMV-approved courses include information about the latest driving laws and regulations, plus safety tips and techniques to teach drivers how to anticipate and even avoid dangerous road situations. So the same high-level training is consistently delivered to each employee, whether they are company veterans or

Taking an online accident prevention course has never been easier. Simply choose your state and register for a course in road safety. DriveSafe Online classes are easy to access from any location, and passing them ensures that your workers are up-to-date on safe driving practices.

Defensive driving courses additionally serve to train your fleets in road safety expectations. This means that when a person is driving a work vehicle, the rules as to what they should and shouldn’t do are clear and well-communicated. Whether your fleet consists of two or 200 people, you can rest assured that they have the training to help keep them safe on the road.

Get Started

While there are many important aspects to having a safe and unproblematic workplace, a safe driving course is one of the most critical.

Now that you know why it’s important to establish a safe driving culture in the workplace, it’s time to get started with DriveSafe Online’s defensive driving courses. Request a free demo of our services to see how this course provides the perfect foundation for company driver safety training programs.

So what are you waiting for? Get started and stay safe!