NIOSH Offers Online Library for Preventing Work Traffic Injuries

Contact: Fred Blosser (202) 245-0645
June 4, 2008

The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) now offers an online library to house resources from around the world related to the prevention of road traffic injuries and deaths while at work. The resources are stored in the "Road Safety at Work" online library, at www.roadsafetyatwork.org.

The online library contains information on the following:

• "Best practices" including engineering controls, policies, administrative procedures, and guidance to employers or workers about safety on roads.
• Materials that show evidence of implementation and evaluation of success.
• Statistics about worker injuries and fatalities on roads.

NIOSH is the federal agency that conducts research and makes recommendations to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths. NIOSH is working with partners to reduce the toll of road traffic injuries at work, which are the leading cause of occupational fatalities in the U.S. (30%) and other high-income nations. In the general population, deaths from road traffic injuries are projected to increase from 1.2 million in 2002 to 1.9 million in 2030, with low- and middle-income nations bearing most of the increase. If effective interventions are not implemented, the World Health Organization and the World Bank estimate that by the year 2030, road traffic injuries will become the 8th leading cause of mortality worldwide.*

"Thank you to all who have contributed to this library," said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. "NIOSH and partners remind you that this library is in continuing development and welcome your materials."

To contribute to the online library, www.roadsafetyatwork.org, please contact Jane Hingston at JHingston@cdc.gov. Information is needed on all types of occupational drivers: (1) drivers of commercial vehicles such as large trucks and buses (workers for whom driving is the primary job duty); (2) workers who use smaller trucks or passenger vehicles provided by their employer (workers whose primary occupation is something other than "driver"); and (3) workers who drive personal vehicles for work purposes. Workers who are pedestrians and those who are working on roads are also included.

NIOSH encourages stakeholders to use the online library, free of charge, and consider the best practices that may be useful in their workplace.

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* Mathers CD, Loncar D [2006]. Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. PLoS Medicine 3(11):e442.