There’s plenty of resources for safety managers to educate themselves and their employees on safe driving practice. We’ve gathered ten resources on four different topics related to driving safety. From winter driving to avoiding distraction, the links in this post can help make your employees safer every time they sit down in the driver’s seat.

Winter and severe weather resources

1. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a number of useful tips online that can be doubly relevant as drivers enter the colder seasons. OSHA encourages people to use the Three Ps system—prepare, protect, and prevent. Prepare, for example, can help them remember to inspect and maintain their vehicle before a long trip or before the seasons change and to give themselves enough time to get from point A to B. It might not seem like a big change, but teaching drivers about the Three Ps can protect them from harm and from injuring others.
2. Transport Canada offers a variety of simple-to-access resources including a “Top Ten Tips” list that reminds drivers about best practices of winter driving, such as not using cruise control in extreme conditions or on slippery roads. This can be priceless in helping people avoid complacency during long workdays. Transport Canada also encourage every driver to have an emergency kit readily available in their vehicle and to travel with a fully charged phone (it might also be a good idea to have a list of numbers to call should something go awry). The more prepared a driver is, the less likely they are to panic when a storm or other threat to safety presents itself.
3. The National Safety Council has a page dedicated to being prepared for winter driving. It covers topics such as helping workers recognize snow-storm-related hazards, getting vehicles ready for winter conditions, how to avoid a crash, and essential items to keep in a car.

24/7 safety

4. Safety in Schools is a helpful resource for school bus fleets, children and parents who often find themselves rushing in the morning. It provides a comprehensive 24/7 view of safety both on and off the job. The website provides storm-related guides, videos and other useful resources such tips on how to build an emergency first aid kit and how to drive a car safely in extreme weather.

Phone use

5. All countries and states have their own laws regarding the use of phones in the car and the AAA’s Digest of Motor Laws provides a list of what the laws are in North America.
6. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration clearly outlines the fines and penalties to drivers and carriers for breaking laws on the use of handheld devices while operating a vehicle.
7. Using the phone while driving—whether it’s to send text messages, check the route or talk to someone—is a dangerous habit. Even the hands-free option takes away from a person’s concentration causing them to be less mindful of what they’re doing. The guide Understanding the Dangers of Phone Use Behind the Wheel discusses this subject in detail and, although the guide’s legal ramifications of using the phone while driving are geared towards to the UK, the behavioral and safety implications are relevant to everyone.
8. It’s a good idea to have a workplace cellphone use policy and stick to it. Although it’s not hard to design something that fits your specific organization, Fleet Financials magazine has a useful guide on how to approach this subject. It could be a good starting point for managers who are not sure how to go about designing their own policy.

Distracted driving

9. DMV.org provides a guide on the three types of distracted driving and the steps required to address them all. For example, it advises readers to set up the GPS before driving and, if sitting behind the wheel of an unfamiliar vehicle, to get familiarized with the car’s controls straight away.
10. The Distracted Driving Guide designed by SafeStart explains that the key to fighting driver distraction is teaching people to maintain focus everywhere, not only behind the wheel. That’s because developing the skills to fight distraction whenever it occurs will lead to focusing on the task at hand, making workers safer wherever they are. And because these skills are practiced all the time, they’ll be effective when people get behind the wheel.