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As we roll into the heart and heat of summer and prime vacation times, family safety is even more paramount. Last month's e-newsletter focused on water safety, particularly boating and beach/swimming risks, including Riptide Awareness Week. The following online resources will help you and your family stay alert and know how to avoid and how to survive getting caught up in rip current hazards while swimming:
The National Safety Council's (NSC) community safety resources can be accessed for expanded, additional pertinent family and public safety resources to help you and your family make it an accident-free, safe summer. Seasonal NSC topics of interest include:
Don’t let those summer plans be interrupted and spoiled by being a victim of crime. July is Vehicle Theft Prevention Month. In 2020, more than 750,000 vehicles were stolen in the United States, and about half of those thefts were due to driver error.
Vehicle theft is a multibillion-dollar crime, costing vehicle owners more than $7 billion in 2020 alone. Passenger cars made up more than 74% of all stolen motor vehicles. Summers prove to be the worst season for vehicle theft.
So, to help drivers keep their vehicles safe, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is continuing its annual Vehicle Theft Prevention Campaign with online resources to help you avoid becoming a victim.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's (CVSA) Operation Safe Driver Week, which runs from July 10-16, 2022, is an awareness and outreach initiative aimed at improving the driving behaviors of passenger-vehicle drivers and commercial motor vehicle drivers through educational and traffic enforcement strategies, as well as interactions with law enforcement.
Throughout the week, law enforcement will be on the lookout for commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in risky driving behaviors. Identified unsafe drivers will be pulled over and issued a citation or warning. Published research shows that traffic stops and interactions with law enforcement help reduce problematic driving behaviors. By making contact with drivers during Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel aim to make our roadways safer by targeting high-risk driving behaviors such as:
Speeding
- Speeding has been a factor in more than a quarter of crash deaths since 2008 according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) yearly snapshot.
- Speeding of any kind was the most frequent driver-related crash factor for drivers of commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
- Speeding was a factor in 26% of all traffic fatalities in 2018, killing 9,378 people or an average of more than 25 people per day, according to USDOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSW).
Distracted Driving
- The NHTSW reports that 47% of the 22,215 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2019 were not wearing seat belts. Seat belts saved an estimated 14,955 lives and could have saved an additional 2,549 people if they had been wearing seat belts, in 2017 alone.
Drunk Driving
- Every day, about 28 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes. That’s one person every 52 minutes. In 2019, 10,142 people lost their lives due to drunk driving.
 As a reminder, heat awareness and illness safety was highlighted in the June e-newsletter. And, summer temperatures are not relenting or getting cooler as we move into the peak summer months of July and August. Employers should take note that from 2011-19, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports 344 employment-related deaths in the United States were due to environmental heat exposure.
In response, OSHA launched a Heat Awareness National Emphasis Program (NEP) to protect millions of workers from heat illness and injuries. OSHA reminds employers and workers not to ignore the dangers of working in hot weather, indoors and out; and, remember that the Heat Awareness Campaigns such as Water. Rest. Shade. can be the difference between ending the workday safely or suffering serious injuries.
Accordingly, OSHA and its affiliates have also ramped up their Heat Awareness safety resources to assist Employers/Workers with Heat Illness Prevention compliance. These Heat Awareness resources include:
- Heat Illness: Prevent Heat Illness at Work Pamphlet (also available in Spanish)
- Heat Illness: Prevent Heat Illness at Work Poster (also available in Spanish)
- Prevent Heat Illness at Work: OSHA Alert (also available in Spanish)
The Center for Construction Research & Training (CPWR) also has a variety of Heat Awareness Resources:
The CWPR-OSHA alliance's Campaign to Prevent Heat Illness and OSHA - Occupational Heat Exposure websites provide a host of resources for employers and workers. The following are infographics with more detail:
Additionally, a public service announcement on heat illness prevention is also available in English (transcript) and Spanish (transcript).
Remember, OSHA's Heat Awareness safety campaign message comes down to three basic key words to stay safe: Water. Rest. Shade.
As a look ahead, August will focus on OSHA's upcoming annual Safe + Sound campaign. Also, August will feature pedestrian safety and the National Safety Council's related Stop on Red campaign to draw awareness to and prevent the running of red lights, which can have horrific negative impacts for many innocent victims. August is also Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Week as we lead up to the Labor Day holiday. The end of August also includes International Overdose Awareness Day, drawing attention to the many lives lost annually through chemical dependencies and addiction, and highlighting ways to seek assistance and help for those affected. More information on these topics to follow as we approach August.
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