Minnesota Network of Employers for Traffic Safety Urges Employer Commitment to Reducing Crashes

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 30 -- Workplace safety efforts that ignore traffic issues are bypassing the leading cause of work-related death. The Minnesota Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (Minnesota NETS) is urging employers to learn more about how they can help reduce those deaths during National Drive Safely Work Week, October 6-10.

"Traffic injuries are the greatest fatality risk workers face," said Lisa Kons, coordinator of Minnesota NETS. "Employers can be a big influence on employees' driving behavior, on the job and off."

The latest statistics from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry show that transportation incidents, mostly on highways, caused 46 percent of worker deaths during the five-year period from 1997-2001.

Drive Safely Work Week is designed to help businesses create positive change in driver behavior. In addition to buckling up, the key safety issues targeted by the campaign include aggressive driving, distracted driving, drowsy and impaired driving -- all on the rise as roads become more congested each year. Sponsored nationally by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) and locally by Minnesota NETS, the effort provides information to help all employees (those who drive on the job and those who do not), avoid traffic crashes.

Last year on Minnesota's roads there were 94,969 crashes, 657 deaths -- the highest death toll in more than two decades -- and 40,677 injuries, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The cost to Minnesota is estimated at more than 1.7 billion dollars.

Information about resources for employers can be found on the Minnesota NETS Web site at www.mnsafetycouncil.org/nets . Minnesota NETS is a project of the Minnesota Safety Council and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety. National Drive Safely Work Week is sponsored by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), a nonprofit public-private partnership.

The Minnesota Safety Council, founded in 1928, is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in Minnesota by preventing unintentional deaths and injuries.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Related fact sheets are located on our Web site: The Driver and Congestion - http://www.mnsafetycouncil.org/nets/N-info.cfm?FS=134 , The Roadway and Congestion - http://www.mnsafetycouncil.org/nets/N-info.cfm?FS=135 , Distracted Driving - http://www.mnsafetycouncil.org/nets/N-info.cfm?FS=133 , Buckling Up -- The Facts - http://www.mnsafetycouncil.org/nets/N-info.cfm?FS=103