National Safety Month: Two Roadway Safety Blind Spots to Watch For
June is National Safety Month, and the week of June 7–13 is dedicated entirely to roadway safety. When you manage a facility or a job site, heavy machinery, slips and falls, or specialized equipment naturally demand immediate attention. National Safety Month is an ideal time to evaluate workplace policies, and it’s easy for other on-site hazards to take priority, but it’s important to consider how roadway safety can and does impact your organization.
Here are two “myths” we frequently hear when we approach organizations to talk to their teams about these issues.
Myth #1: “Our biggest safety risks are on the warehouse floor or job site.”
It makes sense to focus heavily on industry-specific hazards, but the data consistently shows that transportation incidents remain the leading cause of work-related fatalities across nearly all sectors. A robust on-site safety program is essential, but the single highest-risk activity most employees engage in during the workday happens out on the road. In Nebraska, 68% of workplace fatalities in 2024 were transportation-related. Nationally, they comprise 38% of all workplace fatalities.
Myth #2: “We don’t operate a fleet of trucks, so this doesn’t apply to our team.”
You don’t need to manage a fleet of semis or delivery vans for roadway safety to impact your bottom line. In Nebraska, the vast majority of your workforce drives to and from work every single day.
Beyond the standard commute, consider how often employees use their personal vehicles to run a quick errand for office supplies, drive to a client meeting, or travel between locations. The moment an employee drives for work-related tasks, your organization faces liability. Even when it’s just the daily commute, a motor vehicle crash that injures an employee means lost productivity, skyrocketing health insurance costs, and a disrupted team. Roadway safety is a workplace issue, regardless of who owns the keys.
Bring Roadway Safety to Your Team
Addressing these blind spots doesn’t require rewriting your entire safety manual overnight. It starts with building awareness and getting a clear picture of your current workplace culture, and you don’t have to do it alone!
For National Safety Month, let’s get your team involved:
Book a Presentation: These are available at no cost, and can be customized to fit your team’s needs. Have us come to one-off trainings, your regularly scheduled safety meetings, or to all-employee meetings to talk to your team. Follow the link or reach out to us to schedule today!
Schedule an Observation: Set up a workplace seatbelt observation to get an anonymous, real-world baseline of your team’s current safety habits.
