NIOSH reports that Motor Vehicle Crashes (MVCs) are the leading cause of all workplace fatality occupational injuries in the United States, and these collisions cause almost half of all public service worker on-the-job deaths.
Workers continue to be endangered on the job every day in this country, with motor vehicle accidents remaining an overriding threat to those working in a variety of occupations and industries according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For over a decade, motor vehicle accidents have been the top cause of on-the-job accidental deaths in this country.
This month, a new research report was released pointing to the specific dangers facing those workers who are on the job to serve and protect others in the public safety industry. Here, men and women who work to be of help and assistance face unacceptable risks of dying on the job from a variety of causes.
Their biggest danger? Fatal motor vehicle accidents while they are at work, serving the public.
March 2019 Report from NIOSH’s NORA Public Safety Council
The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) is a partnership program dedicated to researching workplace safety and practices, and has been studying ten different industry sectors of the United States for health and safety issues since 1996. NORA is a research arm of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Last week, NORA released its new report on Public Safety in the United States, an 18-page document focusing on eight distinct areas where those working in the public safety workplace are especially vulnerable to severe injury and/or fatality.
Read the full report online, entitled “National Occupational Research Agenda for Public Safety.”
Eight Focus Areas to Decrease Dangers Facing Public Service Workers
The NORA research found eight (8) specific areas where public safety workers are endangered while on the job. These eight areas include the following, several being the obvious result of an on-the-job bodily injury:
- Motor Vehicle Injuries
- Workplace Violence
- Infectious Disease Transmission
- Musculoskeletal Disorders
- Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and Other Chronic Diseases
- Need For Better Work Design And Well-Being
- Need For Surveillance
- Need For Resilience/Preparedness.
On the Job Motor Vehicle Accidents Remain the Highest Risk of Workplace Death
The researchers found that in 2015, motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) were responsible for 37% of all fatal occupational injuries, and an overwhelming majority of these deaths (70%) happened when the accident victim was either a driver or passenger in the vehicle. These percentages pertain to all American workers.
What happens when the focus is turned to those working in the public service industry?
NORA reports that “[w]hen specifically looking at public safety workers, MVCs were also the leading cause of fatal traumatic injuries, accounting for 44% of all fatalities.”
A quarter of these crash fatalities (25%) were the result of a public safety worker being hit by a motor vehicle while at work outside his vehicle or while on foot, as a pedestrian. For more on these kinds of work zone motor vehicle accidents, read:
- Work Zones in Illinois and Indiana: Fatal Accidents, Serious Injuries
- Car Accidents on Northwest Indiana Roads: Remember Highway Work Zone Safety and Stay Safe.
Police Officers
Among the different professionals undertaking public safety work, police officers suffered the most fatalities due to traffic-related injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident.
Fire Fighters
NORA reports that for our firefighters, their second highest risk of dying on the job is not fire-related, but because of road vehicle crashes.
EMS Techs
Crashes involving ambulances are reported to cause twice as many injuries as the national average, and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel must face a risk of transportation-related accident injuries that is five times (500%) higher than other American workers.
Fatal Public Safety Motor Vehicle Crashes are Preventable Accidents
Our nation faces a shocking reality that preventable accidents are the cause of a huge number of deaths in this country each year. For details on the menace of preventable accident fatalities, read:
- Preventable Fatal Accidents at “All Time High” Per 2017 NSC Injury Facts Report
- Accidents Cause More Deaths Today Than Ever Before in United States (December 2018)
It is astonishing that the very sector of our society designed to protect and serve the public faces the highest risk of death from a preventable accident involving a motor vehicle collision.
NORA acknowledges this irony, and points out that many of these traffic accident deaths involving the public safety and emergency response community might be avoided by the same measures we have suggested would stop fatal vehicle accidents throughout Indiana, Illinois, and the rest of the country, e.g.:
- Wearing a seat belt;
- Avoiding drowsy driving; and
- Speeding.
For more, see:
- NHTSA Finds More Than a Third of Children Killed in Crashes Were Not in Car Seats or Wearing Seat Belts;
- Drowsy Driving and the Risk of Fatal Traffic Accidents in Indiana and Illinois; and
- Speeding Causes Almost Half of All Fatal Car Crashes in Illinois (Around 25% in Indiana).
NORA also suggests that things like wearing high visibility clothing along with basic design changes in both work equipment and motor vehicle design may help to make these workers safer on the job from a fatal motor vehicle accident. Accordingly, NORA is encouraging that research efforts advance to:
- Determine factors impacting use of provided restraints in vehicles by public safety workers.
- Evaluate efficacy of safety belt alarm devices in increasing safety belt use by public safety workers.
- Identify potential for connected and autonomous vehicle technology to reduce public safety vehicle crashes.
- Determine factors contributing to excessive speeding and other traffic violations that contribute to motor vehicle accidents for public safety workers.
- Identify technology and best practices to avoid being struck by vehicles while working on roadways.
- Determine the impact of shift length as a fatigue factor relating to driving and injury.
- Determine the incidents of vehicular related injury and death for correctional officers
- Estimate the cost of MVC injuries.
- Determine risk factors contributing to motor vehicle accidents when responding at high speeds with lights and siren.
- Determine best practices for use of in-vehicle technology by public safety workers and its placement in vehicles, to reduce distraction and provide unobstructed vision and better access to controls.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of road safety management policies, programs, and interventions (e.g., driver training, compliance with vehicle maintenance schedules, distracted-driving policies) in reducing incidence and severity of motor vehicle crashes among public safety workers.
Justice for Victims of Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents on the Job
It is disheartening to learn from this new report that so many of our brave men and women who dedicate their lives to public service work are at such a high risk of death not from fire or forms of violence on the job, but instead from a fatal motor vehicle crash.
These preventable deaths, according to NORA, happen not from special circumstances, but often from the same kinds of causes as other fatal roadway collisions: things like distracted driving; driving while fatigued; speeding; and failing to use safety belts.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of severe motor vehicle accident, there are laws in both Indiana and Illinois that exist to provide justice in the event that the collision was caused by the neglect or intentional misconduct of another. Those in the public safety sector may have additional protections and protocols available to them under both state law and federal regulation. Please be careful out there!
