b'OPERATIONS AND SAFETYDISTRACTED DRIVING AND WORKINGGary Auman, MRCA Legal CounselA s those of you whoThose of you who have participated in the MRCA read my Garyssafety recognition program have received comments Corner column shouldfrom the grading committee regarding your distracted understand by now, my concern withdriving program which go beyond the requirements regards to safety deals primarily withset by OSHA. In fact, when the MRCA safety the practical aspects of safety (howrecognition program question was first included in to keep your employees safe) andthe application, it asked the applicant to identify their secondarily with compliance with OSHA standards. Indistracted driving and distracted working programs. most cases these two objectives run concurrently. ThatThe safety committee decided to put this into the is somewhat true with regards to distracted driving. safety recognition program more broadly than OSHA As you may be aware, in 2012 OSHA announcedrequired, because the MRCA safety committee is that it would consider any employer that did notconcerned about the actual safety of your employees.absolutely prohibit texting while driving to be inthe MRCA safety violation of the general duty clause. While that was the directive from OSHA, my concerns with regards tocommittee is safety and distracted driving and/or working are much broader than that. But lets first talk about distractedconcerned about the driving and OSHA. actual safety of your In the years immediately preceding 2012, various safety focused organizations reported an increase inemployeestraffic accidents caused by the relatively new fad ofIf you want to do the math, a simple calculation texting while driving. If you drive as much as I do (andwill reveal that a vehicle traveling at 35 mph covers I am guessing most of you drive more than I do) you51 feet in one second, 255 feet in five seconds and 510 must have noticed someone driving down the roadfeet and ten seconds. A vehicle traveling at 70 mph will with their smart phone in their hand and their thumbcover 103 feet in one second, 515 feet in five seconds feverishly tapping out a message to someone whoand 1030 feet in ten seconds. This means that if youre has just sent them a text message. Most of you havetraveling on an interstate at 70 mph your vehicle will probably sat behind someone at a stop sign or traffictravel more than three football fields in distance in just light after the traffic light has turned green waitingten seconds. That is quite a distance to move if you for the vehicle in front to move out and then realizingare paying no attention to where you are going. But, that the individual behind the wheel is too busyyou might say that you dont drive at 50 miles an hour texting to have noticed that the traffic light turnedon most of the roads or streets you use to access a job green. Typically it is the person who is texting whilesite. So, lets look at a few other numbers. A vehicle their vehicle is moving who causes most of the textingmoving at 45 mph will cover 660 feet or the length of related traffic accidents. But even the person who istwo football fields in ten seconds. A vehicle traveling sitting longer than they should at a stop sign or fails toat 55 mph will cover 810 feet in ten seconds and a pull away from a traffic light when it turns green mayvehicle traveling at 65 miles an hour, 950 feet in ten cause an accident because they cause the frustratedseconds. A lot of things can occur in those distances. driver behind them to try to pull around them therebyIf youre on an interstate highway traveling at 65 or hitting an oncoming vehicle. 70 mph, and youre not looking at the traffic moving OSHAs remedy for this is to require all employersahead of you, you can cause a serious accident if youre to have a written policy that prohibits texting whilenot paying attention to your driving just because the driving. Remember, your policy is not sufficient if ittraffic in front of you comes to a sudden stop.only warns your employees of the dangers of textingIt is the information in the preceding paragraph while driving or suggests to your employees thatwhich is the basis for our recommendation for they should not text while driving. Your policy mustpreventing distracted driving. Your safety program absolutely prohibit texting while driving.32 www.mrca.orgMidwest Roofer'