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Transporting Vulnerable Populations

Transportation provides a vital lifeline for vulnerable populations to access employment, education, healthcare, and community life. Your organization may transport disabled individuals, developmentally disabled children or medically fragile seniors, or it may transport individuals in wheelchairs or other special mobility devices. Regardless of the individuals being served, there are many factors that come into play when providing safe transportation to these more vulnerable populations. When reviewing your transportation programs, it may help to ask yourself the following questions:

  • What written policies and procedures are in place to ensure client safety and protection against liability? How will they be enforced?
  • What is the level of knowledge and training required for drivers, to ensure that clients are safely transported? Do your drivers know that smooth operation of the vehicle is extremely important in transporting individuals with disabilities?
  • How do I demonstrate through my recordkeeping that my staff are trained to proficiency?
  • Are your vehicles in good working order? Do they have proper securement equipment for mobility devices?
  • What are the established safety standards and restraint systems for securing and transporting wheelchair bound clients?

To keep your clients safe, it’s essential to know the answers to these questions. Why? What could go wrong? Here are two examples from our claims files:

High-Risk Clients

The first example features a community support agency that provides transportation for seniors to medical appointments. One of their clients was known by the member to unbuckle himself when being transported. The driver on this occasion knew of the client’s behavior and had refused to transport him earlier that morning; the afternoon driver, however, was not aware of this client’s behavior. The driver secured the client, who later unbuckled himself and fell. He subsequently injured his knee, which required surgery.

The investigation into this incident also revealed that the van was not equipped with federally-mandated shoulder harnesses or lap belts, making the van illegal to transport wheelchair bound individuals. The agency narrowly avoided an attempt by the client’s attorney to recover enhanced damages which might have been awarded due to the possibility of being charged with a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The claim cost $350,000 as a result of the injuries incurred.

Lack of Training

The second example features another community services center; where drivers transport clients with physical and mental disabilities to do errands, such as going to the laundromat. On the day of the incident, there were three clients on board in the van, one of whom was in a wheelchair. The driver for the nonprofit member had put the client, a 35-year old woman with a congenital brain disorder, on the lift and strapped the chair down with all four straps, as she usually did. In the middle of a left turn, the chair tipped over. She stopped and righted it, not noticing that the tie-down straps were loose. Meanwhile, the woman had hit her head and become unresponsive. The driver traveled back to the center immediately, where an ambulance was called. The client’s head injury resulted in a severe worsening of her condition. During the investigation, the driver stated that she had never received any training in how to properly tie down a wheelchair. The family of the client made a claim through their attorney and it eventually settled for $800,000.

 

Post-Accident Drug Testing – It’s No Longer Automatic

For years, many employers have automatically required drug testing of an employee involved in any work-related accident.  The fact that an accident occurred was justification for the testing, without regard to whether any suspected drug or alcohol use contributed to the accident, and regardless of the severity of the injury or damage.

Some states have placed limitations on this practice. For example, in the 2013 California decision resulting from Freeman v Kohl’s, it was found that such a policy of automatic testing was overbroad and invaded privacy rights of  employees.  It held that an  employer’s post-accident policy that requires drug testing in the event of any reported work-related injury, regardless of the extent of any damage, the extent of the injury, and whether the claimant bears any responsibility for incurring the injury, is invalid.

There is now a new and national directive that affects virtually all employers who maintain and implement such a policy.  In August of 2016, the Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued its final rule on electronic reporting of workplace injuries.  Among other things, this rule found that the use of this broad policy after any workplace injury may deter reporting of such injuries and concludes that drug testing policies should limit post-incident testing to situations in which employee drug use is likely to have contributed to the incident, and for which the drug test can accurately identify impairment caused by drug use.

According to OSHA, examples of unreasonable use of the test would include a bee sting, a repetitive strain injury, or an injury caused by a lack of machine guarding or a machine or tool malfunction.

As a result of this new order, there is an increased, but significant risk in continuing the practice of conducting an automatic drug test after any work related accident.  There are significant fines that will be imposed for use of these policies that deter reporting of workplace injuries — and there is also the possibility of facing claims of invasion of privacy from affected employees.

In light of this new rule, drug testing policies must be reviewed and modified to ensure that post-accident drug testing is performed in a fashion consistent with OSHA’s mandates.

 

Driving Safety

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional workplace deaths in the United States. The statistics are staggering. Every eight seconds someone is seriously injured on our roadways and someone is killed every 15 minutes. New preliminary data from the National Safety Council estimates that as many as 40,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2016, a six percent rise from 2015. If those numbers are confirmed, it would be a 14 percent increase in deaths since 2014 — the biggest two-year jump in more than five decades!

Although you cannot control the actions of other drivers, you, your employees and your volunteers can develop defensive driving skills that will help avoid the dangers caused by other people’s poor driving behavior.

  • Drive Defensively. Be aware of what other drivers are doing and expect the unexpected. Maintain a two-to-three second cushion between you and the vehicle in front of you.
  • Pay Attention. Avoid distractions when driving. Never use a cell phone behind the wheel – not even hands-free. The National Safety Council states: “Research shows the brain remains distracted for 27 seconds after dialing, changing music, or sending a text using voice commands.”  Pre-set the navigation system and music playlists before driving.
  • Slow Down. Speeding reduces how much time a driver has to react in an emergency situation to avoid a crash. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it was a factor in 27 percent of all traffic deaths in 2015. Allow plenty of time to reach your destination and adjust speed as needed for weather conditions.
  • Yield the Right of Way. Drivers must often make quick decisions about who has the right of way and when to yield. Remember, the right of way should always be given and it’s not something a driver should take for granted. When two or more drivers approach a situation where someone is supposed to yield right of way, all drivers should be prepared to yield. Whoever has the last clear chance to avoid a collision has an obligation to do so.
  • Use Caution When Passing. Be careful to accurately estimate the time and space needed to safely pass the vehicle in front without interfering with any other vehicles in the vicinity. Always use turn signals to indicate intentions. When passing, especially at night, a driver should be able to see both headlights of the vehicle being passed in the rearview mirror before moving back into the original travel lane.

Individuals driving on behalf of your organization, whether in an agency-owned vehicle or a personal vehicle, should be exercising caution and using good judgment while driving. Every driver is ultimately responsible for controlling his or her vehicle to avoid a collision with another vehicle, object or person. A defensive driver can avoid crashes and help lower their risk behind the wheel.

 

Distracted Driving

Distracted driving is any activity that diverts attention from driving, including: talking or texting on the phone; eating and drinking; talking to people in the vehicle; fiddling with the music, entertainment or navigation system. It is anything that takes attention away from the task of safe driving.

Any non-driving activity is a potential distraction and increases the risk of being involved in a crash. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 25 percent of all crashes involve some form of driver distraction, and thousands of people are killed each year in those crashes. Sadly, every single death is 100 percent preventable.

The best way to be ready for the unexpected is to minimize driver distractions. While no state has a law prohibiting all cell phone use while driving, employers are putting policies into place banning the use of both handheld and hands-free devices. Your organization should have a written distraction-free driving policy. It can be a stand-alone policy or an element of a vehicle use policy. Your distraction-free driving policy should apply to all individuals driving on behalf of your organization, whether an employee/volunteer is driving your agency-owned autos or their personal vehicles. (Sample vehicle use policies are available on our secure website.)

Why should you consider implementing a best practice, distraction-free policy? Juries all over the country are reacting very strongly to distracted driving cell phone crashes. They are awarding very large damages amounts. A jury in Texas, for example, found a beverage company liable after one if its drivers crashed while talking hands-free. The hands-free headset complied with company policy. One injury – verdict $21 million.

Distracted Driving Background

The National Safety Council has reviewed more than 30 studies that show that using hands-free devices doesn’t make driving any safer because the brain remains distracted by the conversation. A study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in 2013 found that impairments associated with drunk and/or drugged driving and texting while driving are similar. Both cause distraction than can result in behaviors such as following too closely, driving slower than the speed limit, weaving into oncoming traffic, lane drift, and not being able to brake on time.

Think that distracted driving isn’t as bad as impaired driving? In 2013, Car and Driver Magazine performed an experiment to document just how dangerous texting and driving can be in comparison to impaired driving. They tested how long it would take to hit the brakes when sober, when legally impaired at a BAC level of .08, when reading an email, and when sending a text. Results: the sober drivers took an average of .54 seconds to brake; the legally impaired drivers took an additional four feet; 36 additional feet for those reading an email; and 70 feet for those sending a text.

Did you know that at 60 mph a vehicle travels 88 feet in one second? At that speed, if a driver takes their eyes off the road for two seconds they will have traveled blindly (yes, like driving with their eyes closed) for 180 feet or more than half the distance of a football field. Stopping that vehicle will take more than four and a half seconds.

Driving safely on today’s roadways is a demanding task that requires constant attention. Employees and volunteers need to stay focused and keep their mind on the road. Just one second of a driver’s attention is all it takes to change a life forever.

 

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