Pinnacol Assurance is urging employers in the state to implement more safe driver training after a review of claim data found vehicle accidents were responsible for four in 10 workplace deaths and $173 million in claims the past five years.
Pinnacol is the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, covering about 60 percent of employers in the state. Workplace injuries overall are down significantly, but vehicle accident claims remain stubbornly high.
“Defensive driving training should be part of any risk management program in which employees must drive for work, even if they’re not considered professional drivers or are driving their personal vehicles,” advised Jim McMillen, Pinnacol Assurance’s director of safety services, in a statement.
Health care workers, truck drivers, chauffeurs, messengers, auto service workers and police officers were at the highest risk of being involved in a wreck. But even clerical workers driving errands are vulnerable.
Just over a quarter of fatal motor accidents while on the job involved someone who likely wasn’t wearing a seat belt, and distracted driving remains a serious problem. Employers could do more to ensure compliance with those two things.
A high share of accidents, about 42 percent, involve workers on the job a year or less.
Although it may seem that snow and ice would make the winter months the most dangerous for drivers, workplace auto accidents are most frequent from July to September, the study found.
