Cellphones, Blackberries and Death

The tragic collision between a commuter train and a freight train in Los Angeles (killing 25 people) has led California’s rail safety regulators to temporarily ban train operators from using cellphones on duty.  It’s been widely reported that the engineer of the commuter train, one of the dead, had been sending text messages shortly before the crash occurred.  The cause of the accident has yet to be determined, but safety authorities didn’t want to take any more chances while the matter is being investigated.

How many of your employees use cellphones or Blackberries that you provide them?  How many of them use the devices while they’re driving your vehicles or their own?  How many accidents have they had?  How many near-misses?  How many of them have walked into oncoming traffic while texting?  How many emergency room personnel, including doctors, are texting during surgery?  Should you do what the California rail safety regulators have done?

You need to seriously consider it.  And I’m not just talking about a policy that applies to employees who drive your trucks, vans and other vehicles.  I’m talking about all your employees, including your executives.  In fact, executives and other management employees may use cellphones and Blackberries far more often when driving and engaging in other potentially dangerous activities than other employees.

If your employees have a serious accident while talking or texting, particularly if they’re using what you’ve provided them and they’re communicating with co-workers, bosses or subordinates, you’ll be sued.  If you have a policy forbidding cellphone and blackberry use while driving or engaging in other off-limits activities, it’ll help with your defense.  To be of the most help, you’ll need to be able to show that you not only had the policy, you enforced it.

My guess is that you’ve got accidents waiting to happen all over the place.  If you haven’t seen a picture of the commuter train after the accident, if you haven’t read articles about what happened and its aftermath, and if you haven’t read articles about the broader danger of using these devices while working, take a few minutes to do so.  Then decide whether you need a policy.