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Digg It - Limit Your Company's Liability - Start a Vehicle Accident Prevention Program
Motor vehicle crashes cost US employers over $60 billion annually in medical costs, legal expenditure, property damage, and lost productivity. While costs by state and Industry vary, on-the-job crash injuries (fatal and non-fatal) amount to about 6.5 percent of all crash injuries. As a result, the cost of workers’ compensation, Social Security benefits, health and d According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product isability insurance continues to rise. An investment in a comprehensive motor vehicle accident prevention program can be a winning approach to reducing these expenses and an effective tool for helping limit your company's liability exposure. Consider the Savings According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s report entitled “The Econo ; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug. Examples of combination products may in ic Burden of Traffic Crashes on Employers” (request a free copy of the 35-page report on the author's web site), the average crash costs an employer $16,500. An employee that has an on-the-job crash resulting in an injury, costs their employer $74,000. In the case of a fatality, costs often go beyond $500,000. Additionally, off-the-job crashes not only affect indivi lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together. ual employees, they are costly to the company as well. The aforementioned NHTSA report had this to say about potential financial benefits, “Traffic safety programs are an alternative to reduce health care expenses to employers without reducing the benefits offered to employees. Protecting employees from motor vehicle crash injury can be a profitable investment of ti here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe e and resources”. Companies that utilize a crash avoidance program often realize immediate benefits due to the positive return-on-investment (ROI) from a well-designed safety agenda. Consider the findings of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company’s report entitled “Executive Survey of Workplace Safety”. In their study, they found approximately 61 percent of questioned bu d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations. Combination pro iness executives think their companies receive an ROI of $3.00 or more for every $1.00 spent on improving worker safety. Protecting Valuable Assets Most well informed employers understand their employees are critical to the success of their business. Showing a commitment to protecting the safety and welfare of valuable workers can go a long way to help ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc mprove employee work satisfaction and retention. If your company happens to be a professional transportation or delivery business, the benefit can be even greater. With the extreme shortage of qualified truck drivers, focusing on employee wellbeing can aid in the reduction of a major cost and time encumbrance…truck driver turnover. “The costs associated with hiring easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi and training new drivers is much better spent on furthering the safety and wellness of our employees’, noted Mark W. Kadlec, VP of Human Resources & Safety at Distribution Technologies, Inc. (www.disttech.com). Headquartered in Newbury, Ohio this bulk transport company is an example of a professional carrier benefiting from a highly focused vehicle safety regimen. nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically onsistently recognized by the National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC) for operating one of the country's safest fleets, DistTech has received the prestigious NTTC Outstanding Performance Trophy six times. Kadlec furthers, “Documenting procedures, on-going safety training and the use of advanced technology allowed DistTech to improve its safety record for 15 consecutive and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ ears. Investing in state of the art driver fatigue monitors and video camera systems to alert our drivers of a potential collision, are just two examples of how we protect our employees, our assets and our customers.” Establishing an Accident Prevention Program Depending on the size and scope of your organization, there are several things to think about ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi in order to best accomplish your safety objectives. Obviously, for any program to be a success, it has to be committed to, and supported by company management. Once the commitment is made, consider the following measures as a part of your complete risk reduction plan: 1) Setting Goals, Documenting Procedures Consider appointing a program manager with th ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it. Following aspects would a task of overseeing the safety initiatives, including vehicle add-on product evaluation and written company policies specific to vehicle safety. Documenting the goals, as well as the results, should be an integral part of the program. To maximize results, share pertinent information with the employees that drive either a company owned or personal vehicle used for co dd to the challenges in developing combination products: Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well? Which combination prod pany-related work. You may wish to instigate both an incentive and a disciplinary action program to raise the awareness of everyone involved. Once you begin to realize measurable improvements, consider rewarding individuals for their personal commitment to improving the company’s safety. For those organizations that do not participate in any formal regulatory compl cts are meaningful and rational? Which therapeutic categories to select? Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients? Do combin ance, consider drafting key documents of your own, such as a written driver agreement, a vehicle inspection and maintenance handbook, along with an accident reporting and investigation procedure. Utilizing this documented information can help minimize further liability; be sure to amend your company policy as necessary to help eliminate reoccurring incidents. 2) tions increase the patient compliance? What would be the developing cost? How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen Employing Aftermarket Safety Technology Currently there are several aftermarket products available to aid drivers in the safe operation of their vehicles, many of which are cost-effective and easy to install on most trucks, vans, SUV’s and cars. While it is beyond the scope of this article to address the broad array of safety solutions available today, you t? As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel might consider learning more about the following: a) Sensor Based Obstacle Detection: Backing-up sensors utilizing Doppler radar technology are extremely reliable and impervious to the affects of whether. While these devices can be more costly than the parking aid sonar-based products, they are far superior in performance for safety applications. b) Came ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality. Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust a Based Video Systems: Today's camera technology is extremely effective in giving visibility to blind spots that are often impossible for the driver to see. A common application is to monitor the rear of the vehicle via a color LCD display, helping to prevent reverse backing accidents. c) Lane Departure Warning (LDW): Often camera based, these devices ar y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products most effective when used on highways and long distance driving. If the driver becomes distracted or fatigued, a warning goes off if they begin to drift into another lane. 3) Safety Education & Training Launching your program with an initial training is an effective way to get a running start. Take the opportunity to impart your company's safety goals, . As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de mployee expectations and reasons why everyone can benefit through active participation. Employee drivers should receive ongoing training; also consider offering access to an internet based driver-training course. In addition, think about adding vehicle safety content to your company newsletter, furthering education and continuously reminding employees that safety is elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements. Companies that provide selfless information through particip not a part time job. Understanding the financial burden associated with motor vehicle crashes makes for a compelling case to take action to reduce the impact. It is a known fact that many traffic crashes are avoidable; investing in a company wide motor vehicle safety program can help save lives and reduce costs, ultimately providing benefits that are hard to ignore tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products
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