NIOSH to Host International Conference on Road Safety at Work

Contact: Fred Blosser (202) 245-0645
October 29, 2008

The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and partners will hold the International Conference on Road Safety at Work on February 16-18, 2009, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Conference co-sponsors include the World Health Organization, Pan American Health Organization, International Labour Organization, U.S. Department of State, and National Safety Council.

NIOSH is the Federal agency in the U.S. that conducts research and makes recommendations to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths. NIOSH is working with partners on strategic research and outreach to reduce the toll of road traffic injuries at work, which are a leading cause of workplace death, injury, and disability in countries around the world. In the U.S., road traffic injuries account for over 35 percent of all occupational fatalities. Worldwide, road traffic accident deaths from all causes are projected to increase from 1.2 million in 2002 to 2.1 million in 2030, primarily due to increased motor vehicle fatalities associated with economic growth in low- and middle-income countries. If effective interventions are not implemented, the World Health Organization estimates that by the year 2030, road traffic injuries from all causes will become the eighth leading cause of mortality worldwide.

The International Conference on Road Safety at Work will provide a forum for business, labor, policy makers, and the research community to discuss strategies to prevent road traffic crashes in the workplace. This is the first international conference dedicated to this important occupational safety issue. Conference sessions will address topics such as crash analysis and benchmarking, strategies to protect drivers in emerging markets, labor perspectives on occupational road safety, corporate social responsibility, and the role of technology in monitoring driver performance and efficacy. A discussion paper on best practices in occupational road safety will be available before the conference.

For information about the conference including registration and hotel information, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/twu/global/ or contact Jane Hingston at JHingston@cdc.gov. More information about NIOSH research on preventing motor-vehicle-related occupational injuries and deaths can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/motorvehicle/.