Distracted driving claimed 3142 lives in 2020. Due to the inherent dangers, handheld device use and texting while driving is illegal in the State of Washington.
It is essential for businesses that employ drivers to implement policies that discourage hands-free and prohibit handheld device use while operating company vehicles. Washington Retail urges companies without mobile phone use policies to create them as soon as possible. The National Safety Council recommends that these policies apply to all company employees.
Employees should only make calls or send texts while in the parking lot or during rest stops and never while driving. Employers should strive to create a workplace culture that encourages employees to wait until they have stopped their vehicles before responding. Employers should also educate employees on how to activate an auto-response message to incoming calls and texts while in transit.
RS SafetyTV has a short video playlist that answers common questions about mobile phone use and driving. These videos can supplement written materials for a safety meeting. You will find an eye-opening video to open a safety meeting about this topic here.
Our safety team is available to help members with safety plans and topics for safety meetings. Contact us 360-943-9198 x122, or [email protected].
