Minnesota Safety Council launches traffic safety website for employers

The Minnesota Safety Council has long created resources for employers to teach their workers about the importance of safe driving.

Now, a new website puts it all in one place.

Employers seeking information on the agency's old website "had to dig for it," said Lisa Kons, the Safety Council's Traffic Safety Programs manager. "It was not easy to use. The goal for this is to be a one-stop shop."

The new site, drivesafemn.org, launched in late November. Developed by the consortium Minnesota Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) in partnership with the Safety Council, it's full of fact sheets employers can use to lead in-person discussions on topics such as distracted driving, speeding, seat belt use and how to drive when roads are congested.

There are also videos, blog posts by traffic safety experts and tips for employers looking to establish expected driving behaviors. Materials are free, and anybody — not just the 2,000 companies representing 250,000 employees in Minnesota that are members of the Safety Council — can log on and use them, Kons said.

Last year in Minnesota, 488 people died in traffic crashes — the most in 14 years, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Office of Traffic Safety. In 2020, more than 20,500 people were injured in automobile crashes, according to the department's 2020 Crash Facts report, the latest year for which numbers were available.

Why is that important to employers? Traffic crashes cost Minnesota employers an average of $250 million a year in losses including expertise and skills, medical care, damages and the cost of finding and training replacement employees, Kons said.

"Forty percent of missed work time is due to traffic crashes and deaths," making crashes the leading reason for absenteeism, Kons said. "It may not always be an employee — it might be a family member. From that perspective, employers have great responsibility for traffic safety. They want their most valuable resource to leave and come back."

Lisa Tickhill, a safety compliance specialist for Star Energy Services in Alexandria, Minn., brings driving safety information to 27 clients across the state. With the new website, she no longer has to hunt around on the council's old website or find other sources.

"It's awesome," she said of drivesafemn.org. "The webinars are handy. To be able to go to one spot and get current state data is huge, and a real time saver."

In a stroke of serendipity, the website featured a webinar on preparing for winter driving as the Twin Cities saw its first measurable snowfall of the season. Tracy Daly, with the Hennepin County human resources department, publicized it through email blasts and in employee newsletters. Scores of county workers tuned in, she said.

"We are always looking for different resources, and ways to keep our drivers safe on the roads," she said. The new website "is a big improvement."