January 2024 Newsletter: Take Flight with Workplace Impairment Training and Transportation Safety

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A small jet is pictured here with the engine open as the pilot prepares for takeoff. We're inviting you to take off during our pilot safety program.

Test Flight

Please join us from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (CT) Wednesday, Jan. 24, for the pilot presentation of our new Workplace Impairment training program. Register to attend now. This free, online training is designed to help safety leaders better recognize and respond to impairment in the workplace and on the roadway.

Workplace impairment due to substances like alcohol, opioids or cannabis, or physical and mental factors, like fatigue and stress, can negatively affect safety, employee wellbeing and your bottom line.

More than half of employers in a recent National Safety Council survey said impairment is decreasing the safety of their workforce. Impairment from a number of causes can delay thinking and reaction time, increase workplace injuries and errors, lead to higher workers’ compensation costs, and increase absenteeism and distraction at work.

To receive a certificate of completion, you must attend the full training. During this pilot session, you will be pointed toward free resources to use in continuing education efforts at your location, and you will learn the benefits of providing preventative training.

The goal here is twofold: We want to make it easier for you to raise awareness of risks associated with impairment and promote safe behaviors, and we want to learn how we can improve on the training moving forward. So, we’ll be looking for your feedback.

See you on Jan. 24.

A row of big rigs are pictured here outside a warehouse. Millions of miles are logged every year by trucking industry drivers.

Trucks in a Row

The arrival of a new year presents a chance for a new start. Let’s add to our list of resolutions and commit to improving transportation safety. Let’s start by making plans to attend a free online training on Tuesday, Feb. 20:

  • Transportation Injury Hazards and How Employers Can Mitigate Risk

Brian Fielkow, executive vice president of risk resources with Acrisure, will discuss why it is essential for company leaders to take safety risks seriously. Fielkow is the former CEO of Houston-based Jetco Delivery. He is a recognized public speaker who has published several books, including Driving Perfection and Leading People Safely.

He’ll talk about the millions of miles logged by trucking industry drivers each year. He’ll point to how safety risks, including distracted driving, driver fatigue and failure to conduct pre-trip inspections, can result from the monotony of those miles and the repetitive tasks often associated with those trips.

Fielkow will focus on the importance of protocols like driver training and retraining, recordkeeping and incident management. What policies and procedures do you have in place? When is the last time you reviewed your transportation safety plan? Do you communicate safety expectations regularly?

Whether you manage a fleet of vehicles, oversee a mobile sales force or employ commuters, you can cut costs and prevent injuries to your employees and their loved ones by maintaining a robust driver safety program. This is your chance to learn from Brian. He’s looking forward to sharing his knowledge so you can start the new year on a new safety trajectory.

This is an illustration of a crane lifting the "WWW" as part of a website construction project.

Web Maintenance

We’re refreshing our website! Perhaps you’ve visited and noticed that the Our Driving Concern Employer Traffic Safety Program is growing.

You’ll find us on our main website here: Our Driving Concern.

We’ve built out an area for Our Driving Concern Texas, and soon we will be launching content for new users in Louisiana and Ohio. To ensure we continue to serve your needs with free training and free resources, we ask that you check the web links you share with your partners. Let us know if you find a link that is broken, and we’ll get it fixed ASAP.

As part of this ongoing refresh, we’re updating the look and feel of our website, too, discarding some old content and developing a strategy to better meet your needs moving forward. We’re ever mindful of that saying: Out of the clutter, you will find simplicity. Thanks for your patience.