Cell phone bans to reach new levels for safety?
May 15, 2009 by Fred HosierPosted in: Bizarre Accident of the Week, Injuries, Special Report, Transportation safety
A company had banned its employees from talking or texting on cell phones while working for safety reasons. Now it’s taking the cell phone ban one step further.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is banning employees from carrying their cell phones on the job. The penalty if they do: termination.
The new rule came after a trolley rammed into another one, injuring the operator and nearly 50 passengers, derailing both trains, and causing MBTA service to be suspended at the Government Center in Boston for several hours. The crash totaled three trolley cars and caused $9.6 million in damage.
The operator of the trolley told investigators from his hospital bed that he was sending a text message to his girlfriend just before the crash. Preliminary information from an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board also shows the driver, Aiden Quinn, ran a red light just before the crash.
Before this incident, MBTA employees were allowed to carry cell phones but were banned from talking or texting while on the road or tracks. A first offense carried a three-day suspension, although the agency had the right to fire violators. MBTA’s General Manager Daniel Grabauskas said the trolley driver in this crash would be fired.
“You are not to get on board that bus or [train or trolley] and have a cell phone on your person or in the cab. Period,” Grabauskas told The Boston Globe. “This is going to be a zero-tolerance policy.”
Officials said the new policy wouldn’t compromise communications in an emergency because cabs are equipped with radios and emergency call buttons.
Transit officials say in the last 12 months, five train and trolley drivers and 13 bus drivers had been cited under the old policy. One bus driver was fired.
State Transportation Secretary James Aloisi Jr. predicts other states and transit agencies would follow MBTA’s lead and ban employees from having cell phones on the job.
Did MBTA make the right decision, or is this overkill? Does your company ban employees from using cell phones while driving for business purposes? Let us know what you think in the Comments Box below.
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Tags: cell phone policies, talking on cell phones while working, texting
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May 18th, 2009 at 11:51 am
I think it’s a good idea that the company is banning cell phone use in this particular situation. It is unfortunate that this driver was idotic enough to text while driving or operating anything especially considering the life and safety of so many others is under his care and attention. In all reality, if there was an emergency situation where communications by the driver to emergency personnel was hindered I’m sure many of the passengers would be willing to call for help on their own cell phones. but obviously you can’t count on that so provisions should be made to offset that.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I don’t see that making calls or texting during breaks would be a problem at most jobs.
Unfortunately most people cannot perform a job well with distractions and therefore make mistakes most of which are minor and are rarely noticed while others have grave and everlasting consequences. Transit operators should have an extra sense for safety given that they are responsible for dozens of lives at one time.
If they cannot hear it ring, they will be less tempted to answer the phone or respond to the text. If MBTA can enforce this rule better than the previous rules that they obviously were not, it should work.
Sometimes when common sense runs in short supply you need to improvise.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
The company decision is a good one when considering the job responsibilities. The driver is required to operate a motor vehicle with full attention at all times when they are in the “cab”. The safety of their passengers is paramount and yacking on the phone diverts attention from the job - both inside the vehicle and most importantly on the road or track.
Companies with fleets would be wise to consider enacting similar policies. However, in the case of distributed salesforces we would only know in the event of an accident - hopefully not a tragic one.
The argument of the phone being available for safety communications is not valid for drivers where there are other forms of radio communications. Drivers on the road solo in cars or truck need to observe the same prohibition. Carrying a phone is one thing , but using one while driving is a risk for themselves and others that is only mitigated slightly with the wearing of a hands-free unit.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I believe that with the reports lately of accidents involving transit agency employees and texting the decision to ban cell phones is not only the right decision but also a necessary one. While according to AAA the use of a hands free cell phone is quite minimal, hands free texting is impossible.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Matter of fact, I just got done putting stickers on our trucks that state to call our 800 number if anyone sees any of our drivers talking on their cell phones while driving. Memo’s went out with paychecks this past Friday informing the drivers that, if they are caught talking on their cell phones while driving, they will be terminated.
Frankly, I don’t think anyone should be talking on their cell phones while driving. There’s already a bunch of idiots out there driving as it is and putting cell phone’s in their hands is just asking for accidents. Heck, just the other day I was in the left lane of a 70mph zone and got stuck behind some girl doing 60mph… I passed her up on the right and when I looked over at her, she wasn’t even looking at where she was going, she had her head down looking at her cell phone either texting or dialing. Cell phones and idiots = wrecks.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I Don’t think it is safe to use any hand held device while driving
May 18th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
It is about time using a phone while driving anything a bus, a train, a truck and even a car distracts one from the task at hand, DRIVING most people do not take driving seriously and the phone is more important. I have to admit I to am guilty of this but in the interest of the public a totoal ban is the best way to go
May 18th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Yes they should. We at our company have recently put into policy that no medical person can have a cell phone on during work hiurs and this has shown to increase work production due to no cell phones.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I think cell phones should be banned from the work place regardless of if you are a driver. You are being paid to work and not carry on personal business on your cell phone or text. I work in a manufacturing company and we do not allow cellphones in the production areas. They have to be kept in the employees locker, cafeteria or car and the employees can use them on their breaks only. If an employee is caught using a phone during their production time then disciplinary action would include verbal warnings, write up, suspension, or termination of employment.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
I’m in favor of this ruling because other lives are involved, not just the operator. The same should be done with operating an automobile. And yes, our company bans personal cell phone use during work hours except on break time, and nobody is even operating any type of vehicle.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
We are currently looking into banning use of cell phones in company vehicles. The company I worked for prior to this job required that if you received a call, you had to find a safe place to pull over and stop… then you could use the cell phone… or have a passenger handle the call for you. Just this afternoon at lunch I witnessed a driver who appeared to be on a cell phone run over a warning cone where a workman was in a bucket truck and several were on the ground. People just don’t seem to use common sense. The worst misuse is texting.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Since there are ways for the drivers/conductors to communicate emergencies on the buses/trains, and becuase there is such a risk to public safety, banning cell phones/personal electronic devices in this profession is reasonable. Obviously, having them on their person is too big of a temptation to resist as they have had several infractions in the last year.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
We have mostly an office environment here but our policy is very clear. No cell phones in the building. Our desk phones work just fine for communication. This policy works well for us. We let applicants know in advance that we don’t allow cell phones in the building and I’ve never had a single complaint about the policy.
I was head of HR for another company and it seemed that at least 10% of my job was policing EE’s who were constantly trying to text on the sly rather than do the job we were paying them to do. I like the policy of my new employer. I’m not saying that it’s for everyone or every business, but for us it’s a good fit.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Our company has banned carrying cell phones while on the job. We are a skilled non-profit nursing facility. It is inappropriate for any of our employees to be enjoying their phones while resident care needs completed. We have also banned carrying cell phones while driving the company vehicles. There are phones located in the vehicles for use in emergency situations and only when the vehicle is not running. Staff is permitted to use them while on lunch breaks.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
MBTA is “spot on” with their new policy.
Should be taken the next step … to ALL moving vechicles on public roads. Cell phoning, twittering, messing with blackberries, and/or fooling with GPSs cause more accidents than wearing seat belts prevent.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
I think this is a great idea. Too many people can’t resist the temptation to look at their phone to see a text or who called, so not allowing them is the right decision.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
It’s about time somebody took a stand on this issue. I think cell phone use by operators of any vehicle should be banned.
May 18th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Absolutely, it was the right call. The drivers of any passenger carrier should not be allowed to use cell equipment in any way, shape or form. A distraction can cause someones life. In this case peopel were just injured, thankfully! My company does not ban the use but the majority of our service drivers pull to the side of the road when a call comes in on a company cell phone.
May 18th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
BZ. I TOTALLY agree. I would love to see it a universal company policy. It is bad enough that people use them while driving POV’s.
May 18th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I am in favor of the banning of cell phones when operating any piece of equipment. I work in a manufacturing facility where your attention needs to be on the equipment in use. All employees can be contacted in an emergency situation via area phones or should they be in transit utilizing a lift truck, they can be contacted via our paging system. Cell phones are a distraction that can compromise the safety of the operator and surrounding personnel or persons dependent on the machinery being used.
May 18th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Talking on the phone while driving is bad enough in iteslf, especially if it is not hands free, but texting while driving a vehicle of any sort is just plain stupid! Truthfully any distractions are bad, such as a child playing around in the back seat, or a partner talking your leg off. Your suppose to be concentrating on the road, not on the other persons. I don’t think the use of cell phones while driving or operating equipment should be allowed. I sit behind a desk, could I use mine without getting hurt? More than likely, but the bottom line, it has to be the same rule across the board. Use your cell phone on your own time. I don’t pay you talk on your cell phone during the day. It better had been an emergency, and the person that called you had better have exhausted every other reasonable attempt to get a hold of you.
May 18th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Good for the MBTA!! ALL employers should follow their lead.
May 18th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
My company bans the use of cell phones while on the clock. It doesn’t matter if you are driving or not. Their rule is based on the fact that if you are on your phone, you are distracted, period. We operate heavy machinery at my company and it would be easy for a fatality to occur if you were not paying attention.
Also, my company feels that if you are on your personal cell phone, then you are getting paid to handle personal business, and that is not why any of the workers were hired.
We have a discipline schedule as follows.
First offense is a verbal warning.
Second offense is a write up.
Third offense is a suspension of a minimum of three days.
Fourth offense is termination.
But, all employees are made aware that termination is possible on any offense if it is deemed worthy.
May 18th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
All cell phone communication should be banned while driving. Period. Cell companies should provide name/number listings to the state DMV’s. The records should be able to be cross referenced from the responding patrol car and any instances where the records show an individual was doing anything other than calling to report the accident, they would be indicated to be at fault for the accident (maybe they could have avoided it if not for being on a cell phone). Insurance companies would not held liable (as with DUI and DWI) and thus could reduce their rates (in a perfect world).
May 18th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Unfortunately, if there’s an electronic device such as a cell present, someone’s going to use it. Too much temptation. If there’s an emergency, family or whoever can call the dispatcher and the dispatcher will let the driver/operator know there’s an emergency and what actions to relieve the driver are being taken. This will not violate anyone’s safety agenda, it’s how we used to do business every day before cell phones and pagers. I don’t believe these people are the first to ban them and I expect this trend to continue.
May 18th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
These should be ban on the job and by drviers of any vehicle, Planes, Buses, Trollies, and personnel vehicles. Hands free does not solve the problem, people are still distracted by what they are hearing and thinking about what their answer will be. Just because they don’t hav it in their hand does not mean they are paying attention. What has become so important that it can’t wait. What did these people do before cell phones?
May 18th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
As there are other forms of emergency communication available to the operators, I would say that the total ban is the right call (pardon the pun).
People really are not aware of how dangerous it is to drive while talking/texting: most people think that they are completely able to do these things because they are better than most. I was talking to a co-worker a few days ago who was telling me that he texts while riding his MOTORCYCLE!
As we are a species that takes things to the extreme it only goes to figure that the answer would have to be extreme as well.
May 18th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
At our location in Chattanooga, TN all of our linemen are not allowed to carry cell phones. They must be left in the line room and never carried onto the aircraft ramp or into the the fuel farms.
May 18th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
This is my personal opinion and does not represent my employer in any way.
When we work we should be giving our employer our best. If it was your company that’s
what you you would expect from your employees. It’s a binding agreement; I work for you and do xx, you pay me xxx$. Unless cell phones are specificaly needed for instant communication related to your job function, then leave the phone/IM Device in the car or your lunch box. Use it on your own time.
May 18th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
In my opinion, the MBTA made the right call, they just didn’t make it soon enough to prevent the recent injuries.
The sooner cell phones are banned for anyone working in transportation (at the controls of a vehicle, ship, boat, train or plane) the safer we’ll all be.
May 18th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Why stop at cell phones? I can’t count how many times I’ve seen someone driving erratically because they’re putting makeup on while driving, or eating lunch while driving. Seriously, how can you safely operate a vehicle with a burger in one hand, a drink in the other, and an order of fries between your legs? They should make a law against that.
Oh, wait. They did. It’s called careless driving. They already have laws to cover situations where a driver is not in adequate control of the vehicle. Why do we need more?
May 18th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I should add an addendum to clarify my position. In the case of the article, this is a situation where the employer has decided to tighten up policies for the sake of safety. They obviously have the right to do that. My first comment was specifically regarding laws that would ban cell phone use while driving. My point was we already have laws against it. It makes no sense to add more of them.
May 18th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
We are prohibited from talking on the cell, texting, and the using the two-way radio while driving unless it is to contact emergency services. The first offense is a written warning and may lead up to termination. We tracked our accidents and near misses and discovered that it was the conversation that was distracting the employee from paying attention to traffic conditions/hazards.
As the Safety Director, I found it difficult to comply with the new policy at first, but made the adjustment and actually enjoy the quiet time in my vehicle.
For California, your first cell phone violation will cost approx. $138. It cannot be removed from your record by attending traffic school.
May 18th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
The MBTA is justified in banning the possession of cell phones (and other personal devices). If there is a history of incidents, the employer MUST take action to protect the employee, fellow employees, and the public. Obviously, self-restraint hasn’t worked well enough. Too bad the idiots spoil it for the rest.
May 18th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Most certainly not overkill … this is the right thing to do. The phones should’ve been banned after the last incident, which involved a fatality I believe, but for whatever reason, operators were still allowed to carry their phones. This case should have opened eyes all over the nation …
May 18th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
This is a good policy. Really, there are many jobs where there is no reason for someone to be carrying a cell phone while working. If someone needs to get ahold of you in an emergency, they can call a traditional land line number to the office, dispatcher, etc. just like they did before the invention of the cellular telephone.
May 18th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
I think that this is a good policy. Don’t forget the train wreck in LA that killed 20 people when the driver was allegedly texting. Safety issue aside, there is a huge loss of productivity when staff are using cell phone while on the clock.
Ron
May 19th, 2009 at 9:01 am
It is a crying shame that in this country we have to make rules and laws because of complete and otter stupidity to control the usage of cell phones, but we do. There should be zero tolerance concerning personal and other peoples safety not to mention property damage when it comes to cell phone usage. We allow our employees to use their cell phones during their break and lunch times, any other time it is a documented write up that could lead to termination. Seems that is still not the answer because it is difficult to police the restrooms.
May 19th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I agreed to ban the service of cel phones as well the smoking rules. Is all for safety…The telephone is only for personal use, but people taken avantage of the rule and get involve in accidents, no matter where they are doing, at work or off the job. Still people irresponsible to follow up the right thinks to do. In the place of work is only to do the job, not to be socially involve in extra affairs besides the job. Did you even believe that in church the people use the telephone? is discourage to some one use the telephone only when did not suppose to use it!
If you realize the accidents happen when some one suffer the consecuencies, them change the habits!
May 19th, 2009 at 9:55 am
For those of you not in Boston-=-the union was the first to say that cell phones would be banned-the MBTA prez agreed and announed the policy-then within a few days, they recanted and said that it was overboard.
This should get interesting.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:17 pm
WE HAVE A SIMULAR POLICY AND I THINK IT IS GOOD HOWEVER WE SEEM TO HEAR OF PEOPLE HAVING THEIR PHONES WITH THEM BUT CAN’T CATCH THEM. WE HAVE MEDICS OUT ON THE STREET AND UNLESS SOMEONE TELLS, WE NEVER KNOW.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:35 pm
This is a good move by MBTA, I think it should be law nation wide that no operators of public vehicles should be allowed to use cell phones during working hours, if caught immediate termination. Those riding buses, trolleys, trains, ferries, subways, etc. are depending on the operator for his or her safety. The operator should be giving his entire attention to his job and to the safety of his passengers not talking or texting on a cell phone. After all the majority of discussions or text messages are things that can wait until after work and do not pertain to work.
May 26th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Although I have a need to use a phone while on the road — I had a Mobile Phone before the days of cellular phones — I agree that holding a phone to your head or texting is not compatable with safe driving, and that bus and train drivers should not have the phone around at all while in the cab. Calls can be returned when you can pull off at an exit, and for those incoming callers who restrict their caller ID, too bad. As an employee is likely costing his employer $0.50 or $1.00 a minute, taking personal calls while on duty is theft from the employer and should not be done.
June 1st, 2009 at 9:52 am
I’m on the fence with this one. From a corporate point of view and possible liabilities for the company, it’s a good idea. I’m putting my life in the hands of the driver. His/Her eyes better be on the road. However, as a father, I would like to have the assurance to be able to communicate with my wife in an emergency situation if I was driver.
June 1st, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Since many employees have failed their policy i think it is a fair rule. As far as any state making a law that says no cells in a vehicle i don’t think that’s fair. It’s fair to not be able to use them, but not for a state to put on a total ban. I think it is fair for any company to decide that they are going to ban cell phones although its really nice if you can let your employees try and keep them just not use them.
June 9th, 2009 at 8:56 am
I agree with the MBTA. You must provide the highest standard of safety when it comes to injury and loss of life. Imagine if your children were on those trolleys. I manage a fleet of 100 vehicles and this is one of the toughest rules to enforce. I wish the police were a little more vigilant about this enforcement.
August 17th, 2009 at 9:47 am
From planes trains and automobiles,the cell phone kills. Save for emergency situations,it should be banned.We have far too many stupid humans in transit out there with uncontrolled access to our favorite and most abused technology.
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