Don't Lose Your Business Over Employee Electronics Use

We see it in the news almost every day now. Some person causes an accident because they were texting while driving. Or maybe they were busy on their in car laptop or just chatting on the cell phone.

This is a very real danger for all of us and the anger level around it is rising. And if your employees are doing it on company time, it could pose a huge risk for your company.

According to the specialists at Zurich Risk Engineering, your company could be held liable if you permit employees to use some technologies while driving.

In a recent press release Jim Noble, Zurich's Line of Business Director said, "Not only have businesses put people at risk over their laissez-faire attitude towards technology usage in their workplaces, in most cases, they encourage it if it means increased productivity."

He goes on to say, "But companies themselves, large and small, are now threatened if suddenly they’re faced with a hefty lawsuit caused by an employee’s negligence with an electronic device."

They recommend you consider developing an electronics usage policy and implementing it uniformly to help proactively manage this risk in your operations. Some suggested guidelines for creating an electronic usage policy include:

• Restricting use of all types of technologies (cell phone, Blackberry, laptop, MP3 player) in the company distracted driving policy
  
• Prohibiting use of non-work related technology gadgets in non-office work areas to help minimize distractions and other safety-related hazards
  
• Enforcing rules consistently and fairly with all employees
  

Of course as they indicated, electronics usage policies by themselves do not guarantee success in preventing risks associated with distracted driving, but they may help reduce exposure and, more importantly, send a clear safety message to employees.

You can find out more information on Zurich Risk Engineering, visit www.risk-engineering.com.