A new study by NIOSH examines the effectiveness of security equipment in reducing murder rates among cab drivers. Taxi drivers face a heightened risk of workplace homicide, and while many cities and companies have made an effort to improve driver safety, the research into the effectiveness of these efforts has been limited, until now.
Researchers from the NIOSH Division of Safety Research found that the installation of in-vehicle security cameras and partitions resulted in a significant drop in the rate of driver homicides. The study examined newspaper clippings from a 15 year period in 26 cities across the U.S., and sorted them into three categories: 1) use of security cameras, 2) use of partitions, and 3) cities with no in-vehicle security systems, as a control.
Results showed a significant drop in homicide rates for cities that installed the cameras. Homicide rates were seven times lower than the pre-installation of the cameras and three times lower than cities without cameras or security partitions.
“We have data that can show us who is at risk for workplace violence, but for taxi drivers there was a gap in knowledge on how effective the security equipment was at keeping them safe,” said Dawn Castillo, Director of NIOSH’s Division of Safety Research. “This study provides an important piece of that puzzle, helping to increase our understanding of what works in preventing these types of tragic incidents. We hope that this will help cities and taxicab companies in their effort to make the workplace safer for these drivers.”
Further research is planned to gain a better understanding of the issue and how to best prevent workplace homicides and other more common types of workplace violence faced by taxi drivers, such as threats and assaults.
Click here to access the complete study.