Healthier Workers

Safer Workplaces

A Stronger America.

“It is well recognized

that texting while driving

dramatically increases the

risk of a motor vehicle injury

or fatality. We are asking

employers to send a clear

message to workers and

supervisors that your

company neither requires

nor condones texting

while driving.”

David Michaels, PhD, MPH

Assistant Secretary

Occupational Safety and

Health Administration

DRIVING

NOTEXTING

DISTRACTED

:

Dangers of distracted driving

■ Distracted driving crashes killed more

than 5,400 people and injured nearly

500,000 in 2009.

■ Researchers report that texting while

driving claimed more than 16,000 lives

from 2001 to 2007.

■ Reaction time is delayed for a driver

talking on a cell phone as much as it is

for a driver who is legally drunk.

■ Drivers who are texting take their eyes

off the road 400% more than when they

are not texting.

■ More texting leads to more crashes. With

each additional 1 million text messages,

fatalities from distracted driving rose

more than 75%.

DRIVING &

TEXTING

MORE WORKERS

ARE KILLED

EVERY YEAR IN

MOTOR VEHICLE

CRASHES THAN ANY

OTHER CAUSE.

Businesses can

help solve this

big problem. Occupational

Safety and Health

Administration

If you have questions or need more information,

contact OSHA at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).

TTY 1-877-889-5627.

OSHA 3416-02N-11
DRIVING

DISTRACTED

Workers’ safety is your business

Texting while driving puts millions of

Americans who drive on the job at risk

every day. That risk continues to grow as

texting becomes more widespread.

As a business owner or manager, it’s your

legal responsibility under the Occupational

Safety and Health Act to safeguard drivers

at work.

This holds true whether they drive full-time

or only occasionally to carry out their work,

and whether they drive a company vehicle

or their own. When your workers are

behind the wheel doing your company’s

work, their safety is your business.

That’s why the Occupational Safety and

Health Administration (OSHA), which

enforces worker safety laws, has joined

with the Transportation Department, other

Labor Department agencies and key

associations and organizations to enlist the

help and cooperation of businesses – large

and small – in a nationwide outreach, education, and enforcement effort to stop the

dangerous practice of texting while driving.

OSHA is prepared to act quickly. When

OSHA receives a credible complaint that an

employer requires texting while driving or

organizes work so that texting is a practical

necessity, we will investigate and will issue

citations and penalties where necessary to

end this practice.

Safety at work is no accident

Building a workplace culture of safety

requires clear, explicit policies and sound

practices. Send a clear message to workers

and supervisors that your company neither

requires nor condones texting while driving.

Employers should:

■ Prohibit texting while driving. OSHA

encourages employers to declare their

vehicles “text-free zones” and to emphasize that commitment to their workers,

customers, and communities.

■ Establish work procedures and rules that

do not make it necessary for workers to

text while driving in order to carry out

their duties.

■ Set up clear procedures, times, and

places for drivers’ safe use of texting and

other technologies for communicating

with managers, customers, and others.

■ Incorporate safe communications practices

into worker orientation and training.

■ Eliminate financial and other incentive

systems that encourage workers to text

while driving.

How OSHA helps

OSHA’s distracted driving web page

(www.osha.gov/distracted-driving/

index.html) provides useful resources,

including:

■ a model policy to use or adapt for your

business

■ information about how employers are

combating this hazard

■ research findings

■ educational materials

The U.S. Department of Transportation

website (www.distraction.gov) provides

updates and information on the national

campaign to prevent distracted driving.

Additional assistance

OSHA’s consultation program can help

small and medium-sized businesses, at no

cost, keep workers safe by providing:

■ free and confidential advice

■ on-site consultation

■ assistance with identifying workplace

hazards

■ advice on compliance with OSHA

standards

■ assistance with safety and health programs

To learn more about how OSHA can help,

visit www.OSHA.gov or call OSHA at

1-800-321-OSHA (6742). TTY 1-877-889-5627.