We usually think of safety as an at-work issue. But what about the time your employees spend on the road?

The construction industry requires workers to drive to and from job sites regularly. In fact, 80 percent of construction managers report driving a passenger vehicle on the job, among the highest percentage in any industry. And more than half of construction workers say they drive some type of vehicle on the job.  

Because of this increased time on the road, the construction industry is at particular risk for crashes. It accounted for 6 percent of all Pinnacol accident claims last year, ranking sixth out of 27 categories.

Overall, vehicular accident claims have cost Pinnacol customers $173 million over the past five years, making them our most expensive and most fatal claims. The Centers for Disease Control say motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of work-related deaths.

In 2017 alone, there were 648 fatalities in Colorado accidents, up from 481 in 2013. And there were nearly 3,500 accidents in which people suffered injuries only.

How can you keep your construction employees safe when they drive? Enlisting technology offers one solution.

Telematics is a technology solution that employs GPS to monitor data associated with a vehicle, reporting on everything from speeding, hard braking and rapid acceleration to vehicle maintenance. Telematics keep a close tab on what’s happening to a vehicle, giving you information you can’t glean from odometers or gasoline receipts, ultimately improving fleet safety and driving behavior.

Pinnacol is committed to helping your workers get to and from work safely. That’s why we’ve teamed up with StriveSafe to provide a telematics-based driver management solution with proven benefits. As a policyholder, you can receive this service for a discounted price.

StriveSafe identifies and encourages drivers to self-correct risky driving behaviors such as speeding, hard braking and aggressive driving. In the first year of deployment, StriveSafe can:

• Save up to a gallon of fuel per day for each vehicle
• Decrease hard braking incidents by an average 27 percent
• Reduce rapid acceleration incidents by up to 47 percent

With better safety practices come better results on the road. In the first year of the program, accident rates drop by up to 90 percent. You can see how StriveSafe works by watching this short video and then contacting them to schedule a demo.

Consult our Driver Safety Center to find more ideas and resources. Questions? Contact us at safetyoncall@pinnacol.com.