A recent survey of literature on workers' comp accidents by the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) in Madison, Wis., revealed that for most businesses, highway vehicles present the biggest risk of serious injury to employees, and are associated with workers' comp claims of significant dollar severity. In other words, it's safer to work from home.

The injury data used in the IAIABC analysis came mainly from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) and the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). "We are hopeful that greater publicity to traffic accidents will motivate more employers to throw their energies behind at least the basic steps to protect their workers, such as seatbelt use and zero tolerance of substance abuse," said IAIABC Executive Director Gregory Krohm. "Of course, a full blown traffic safety program is the ideal."

According to the IAIABC study, vehicles cause more serious injury to workers than anything else except construction, agriculture, and some natural resource industries. Moreover, traffic accidents result in a disproportionate share of serious disabilities and fatalities. NIOSH data revealed that in 2000, highway accidents were the leading cause of occupational fatalities in the U.S., accounting for about 1,345 civilian worker deaths (23 percent of all injury-related deaths).