Insurance companies have backed a National Transport Commission (NTC) initiative that encourages employers to share proven road safety tips to reduce work-related fatality and injury rates.

Suncorp/Vero, Wesfarmers Insurance and Zurich are members of the National Road Safety Partnership Program.

Major employers to join include Coca-Cola Amatil, BHP Billiton, Telstra and Origin Energy. Participating employers will gain access to a library of best-practice road safety programs.

The NTC estimates that in the next five years 170,000 Australians will die or be seriously injured on the nation’s roads.

Zurich Head of Risk Engineering Customer Management Mervyn Rea says work-related driving accounts for about one-third of fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.

He says road infrastructure is failing to keep up with growing traffic volumes, and congestion, poor driving conditions and unsafe driver behaviour is likely to cause more problems for employers.

“For many businesses, driving will be the most hazardous activity for employees. Vehicles used for business purposes are an extension of the workplace in the eyes of [occupational safety] regulations.”

Mr Rae told insuranceNEWS.com.au it is becoming more common for insurance clients to seek detailed data on their work-related motor vehicle accidents, as a management resource.

“We’ve always used that data internally to determine pricing and selection of risk, but now we’re seeing growing demand from companies to provide data for benchmarking against their peers.”