County encouraged to buckle up during summer

MINERAL COUNTY - Vacations have begun and desk chairs sit empty while co-workers enjoy their time away from the job. Phones are ringing off the hook, the copier has been jammed for two days and the office plants are wilting. You are scrambling to tend to the needs of your clients as well as those of your vacationing colleagues. Productivity is suffering. Thank goodness they’ll be back on the job soon. But what if they don’t return?

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Fourth of July holiday is the deadliest day of the “100 Deadliest Days of Summer” – the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Seat belts are the single most effective means of reducing deaths and serious injuries in traffic crashes. Adopting strict seat belt use policies and implementing incentive programs to recognize and reward seat belt users can help employers protect their most valuable investment – their employees.  

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of both on-and off-the-job injuries, costing employers billions of dollars annually in medical care, legal expenses, property damage and lost productivity. The average crash costs an employer $16,500. When a worker has an on-the-job crash that results in an injury, the cost to their employer is $74,000. Costs can exceed $500.000 when a fatality is involved. Off-the-job crashes are costly to employers as well.

 Seat belts save nearly 12,000 lives and prevent 325,000 serious injuries in America each year. During a crash, anyone not wearing a seat belt will slam into the steering wheel, windshield or other parts of the interior. They may collide with other occupants or be ejected from the vehicle. Although observed safety belt use in Montana nears 80 percent, if between 87 and 94 percent of Montanans used seat belts, it is estimated that an additional 20-30 lives would be saved each year. That number increases to 75 additional lives saved if seat belt use were 100 percent.

No organization can afford to ignore a major problem that has such a serious impact on both their personnel and the company budget. Employers are in a position to foster safe driving practices that contribute directly to the bottom line including adoption of a workplace seat belt policy.

Have a safe summer everyone and please buckle up.