Many Louisiana businesses have younger workers on their staff. Sometimes, companies have such employees perform job duties that require driving. Issues regarding driving inexperience and immaturity can sometimes raise concerns regarding how responsibly such workers will act behind the wheel.
Whether or not young workers engage in safe conduct when driving in connection to their job can have major ramifications.
For one, it has major impacts regarding their own safety and well-being. Motor vehicle crashes can leave such employees with serious injuries. Also, among workers 16 to 24, auto accidents are the No. 1 cause of workplace deaths here in the United States.
The conduct of such workers behind the wheel can also have major implications for their fellow motorists. When such workers drive recklessly, they can expose other motorists to major harm.
Additionally, how young workers act when doing job-related driving can significantly impact employers and insurers. For example, it can have workers’ compensation implications. When young workers suffer injuries in crashes that occurred when they were driving in relation to a work task, workers’ comp claims can result. Such claims and what happens with them can have major impacts for employers and workers’ comp insurers financially.
Also, when young workers cause auto accidents that hurt others, it could harm their employer’s reputation and potentially expose the employer to legal claims.
So, in addition to making sure to follow all the rules regarding what sorts of work-related driving young employees can and can’t do, it can be very beneficial for employers to take steps to help ensure their young workers act responsibly when doing work-related driving. Examples of such steps include:
- Making sure all young workers they have drive in connection to work tasks are properly licensed
- Providing safe driving training to young workers
- Reminding young workers to always wear a seat belt when driving on the job
- Having safe driving polices in place for work-related driving, including polices regarding driving in in climate weather
- Making sure young workers know these policies