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NIOSH Programs > Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities > Global Collaborations in TWU > Global Road Safety
Global Collaborations in Transportation, Warehousing and UtilitiesFocus Area: Global Road SafetyThe global burden of traffic crashes is expected to increase dramatically in coming years.
“The projected 40 per cent increase in global deaths due to injury…between 2002 and 2030 is predominantly due to the increasing numbers of road traffic accident deaths…Road traffic accident deaths are projected to increase from 1.2 million in 2002 to 1.9 million in 2030, primarily due to increased motor vehicle fatalities associated with economic growth in low and middle income countries.” Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in the U.S. workplace, and contribute substantially to the road fatality burden in other high-income nations.Of approximately 5,700 workplace fatalities in the U.S. reported annually by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 35% are associated with motor vehicles. Between 2001-2005, on average:
About 80% of U.S. workers killed in crashes were vehicle occupants. In the U.S., the number of workers who die in motor vehicle crashes is small compared with the total number of roadway fatalities, contributing slightly over 3% of the total [Bureau of Labor Statistics 2007; NHTSA 2006a]. In the nations of the European Union (EU), however, road traffic and transport accidents at work account for far higher proportions of total roadway fatalities, 41% in 1999 [European Commission 2002]. Crash experience for Australia is similar, with nearly half of all workplace fatalities between 1989 and 1992 associated with either driving for work or commuting to work. In Australia, work-related crashes were estimated to be 13% of all roadway fatalities [Murray et al. 2003]. In the United Kingdom (UK), one-fourth of all vehicle miles traveled were estimated to be for work purposes (excluding commuting). One source estimated that one-third of all “company cars” in the UK are involved in a crash each year, and that crash rates for persons driving for work are 30-40% higher than for private motorists [UK Department for Transport 2008]. Traffic safety risks are different for workers in low- and middle-income nations, where few statistics are available on occupational roadway deaths.Road networks in these nations frequently do not route higher-speed traffic and larger vehicles onto separate highways, as is done in higher-income nations. Therefore, victims of roadway crashes, occupational and non-occupational, are frequently pedestrians or operators of non-motorized conveyances. Because a great deal of business is transacted next to traffic, pedestrians and other vulnerable road users are not separated from large vehicles as they are in higher-income nations. Few statistics are available on occupational roadway deaths in low- and middle-income nations. Systems for tracking roadway deaths are not well-developed, and information on work relationship is rarely collected. Further, because employment is often informal and sporadic, it may be difficult to determine if an injury occurred at work. Occupational road safety is a public health issue, not just a workplace safety issue.Unlike other work environments, the roadway is an open setting where external forces affect the safety of the occupational driver, and the presence of the worker can in turn influence the safety of the public. In the developing world, work vehicles likely contribute to the toll of pedestrian fatalities. In industrialized nations, the conflict between work vehicles and the public is likely to take the form of a collision involving a truck and a passenger vehicle. In 2005, 803 drivers of large trucks (i.e., those weighing more than 10,000 lb.) died in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S., and 27,000 were injured. For occupants of passenger vehicles, the burden of fatalities and injuries from truck-related crashes is even greater. In the same year, an additional 3,944 occupants of other vehicles and 465 pedestrians and other non-motorists were killed in large-truck crashes in the U.S. [NHTSA 2006b]. The considerable safety impacts of commercial traffic have also been recognized in the European Union, where a recent policy document cited needs for universal training of commercial drivers, stricter enforcement of driving hours and rest periods, “best practice” guidelines for management of commercial vehicle fleets, and the inclusion of safety as a key provision in road transport contracts [Commission of the European Communities 2003]. Resources This site contains documents in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access the file. If you do not have the Acrobat Reader, you may download a free copy from the Adobe Web site.
Bureau of Labor Statistics [2007]. Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries summary, 2006, Table 1. External link: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf Commission of the European Communities [2003]. European road safety action programme. Halving the number of road accident victims in the European Union by 2010: a shared responsibility. Brussels, Belgium: Commission of the European Communities. Department for Transport [2008]. Driving for work: statistics. European Commission [2002]. European social statistics: accidents at work and work-related health problems, 1994-2000. Mathers CD, Loncar D [2005]. Updated projections of global mortality and burden of disease, 2002-2030: data sources, methods, and results. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. External link: http://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/bodprojectionspaper.pdf Murray W, Newnam S, Watson B, Davey J, Schonfeld S [2003]. Evaluating and improving fleet safety in Australia. Canberra, Australia: Australian Transport Safety Bureau. NHTSA [2006a]. Traffic safety facts 2005: a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the General Estimates System. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Publication DOT HS 810 631. NHTSA [2006b]. Traffic safety facts 2005 data: Large trucks. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Publication DOT HS 810 619. NIOSH [2003]. Work-related roadway crashes: Challenges and opportunities for prevention (NIOSH Hazard Review). Cincinnati, OH: Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. DHHS (NIOSH) 2003-119. Peden M, Scurfield R, Sleet D, Mohan D, Hyder AA, Jarawan E, Mathers C, ed. [2004]. World report on road traffic injury prevention. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. Page last updated:
July 24, 2008
Page last reviewed: July 24, 2008 Content Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) |
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Global Collaborations in Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities |
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According to a 2005 report from the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries will be the eighth leading contributor to the global burden of disease by the year 2030.