ABSTRACT
People are most often involved in accidents as they walk around the workplace or when they come into contact with vehicles in or around the workplace. It is therefore important to understand the various common accident causes and the control strategies that can be employed to reduce them. Slips, trips and falls account for the majority of accidents to pedestrians and the more serious accidents between pedestrians and vehicles can often be traced back to excessive speed or other unsafe vehicle practices, such as lack of driver training. Many of the risks associated with these hazards can be significantly reduced by an effective management system. As more and more workers spend a considerable amount of time travelling and commuting by road, occupational road safety becomes an important issue. Indeed the term ‘commuting accident’ has been defined by the ILO in the Protocol of 2002 to the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 P155, as an accident resulting in death or personal injury occurring on the direct way between the place of work and:
(a) the worker’s principal or secondary residence; or (b) the place where the worker usually takes a meal; or (c) the place where the worker usually receives his or her
remuneration.
