June is National Safety Month

The month of June is designated as National Safety Month. It is a time to focus on reducing injury and death at work, whether you are on the road or at your home. The National Safety Council says that injuries are a leading cause of disability for people of all ages.

While some injuries are unforeseeable and out of your control, there are still ways in which you can decrease your likelihood of injury, in particular, while you are driving. Many people spend a good amount of their day in their cars. Certain jobs require driving to appointments or locations for work throughout the day, while other jobs may require a long commute time for you to get to and from your place of employment.

Here are a few things you can do to be safer while driving for work:

Drive the speed limit
Speeding can increase the severity of an accident and your injuries associated with it. Slow down, so you have time to react to your driving circumstances
Don’t make your car your office
Wrap up important phone calls before you get into your vehicle. Your reaction time will decrease when your brain is focused on an important call
Be alert for road dangers
When you are driving, be aware of potholes, rocks, and large items that are on the roadways. These types of things can lead to injury if you are not able to make a smart decision to avoid the danger
Don’t retrieve fallen items while driving
Though it might be tempting to pick up that lipstick that fell under your seat, wait until you are parked. Having one hand on the wheel, foot on the pedal, hand under the seat and possibly, eyes off the road is a recipe for an accident

Following these simple tips will help you stay safer while driving in your car. You can also learn more about your injury risks with a free and easy safety check-up from the National Safety Council at https://www.nsc.org/forms/safetycheckup.aspx. You can also take their SafeAtWork Pledge, http://www.nsc.org/act/events/Pages/Safe-at-Work-Pledge.aspx.

June is National Safety Month