Taxicab Driver Safety

1. Cammie Chaumont Menéndez, PhD November 17, 2012 Menéndez, PhD August 3, 2012 Taxicab Driver Safety

2. Taxicab Driver Safety as a Public Health Issue • What is Public Health? • Multi-disciplinary • Comprehensive • Every level of society The advantage to recognizing taxicab driver safety as a public health issue is to use targeted, effective interventions in public health for increasing taxicab driver safety

3. The Public Health Model Describe the problem Problem Response Mercy JA, Rosenberg ML, Powell KE, Broome CV, Roper WL (1993). Public health policy for preventing violence. Health Affairs, Winter, 7-29.

4. The Public Health Model Identify causes and risk and protective factors Describe the problem Problem Response Mercy JA, Rosenberg ML, Powell KE, Broome CV, Roper WL (1993). Public health policy for preventing violence. Health Affairs, Winter, 7-29.

5. The Public Health Model Develop, implement, and evaluate prevention strategies Identify causes and risk and protective factors Describe the problem Problem Response Mercy JA, Rosenberg ML, Powell KE, Broome CV, Roper WL (1993). Public health policy for preventing violence. Health Affairs, Winter, 7-29.

6. The Public Health Model Disseminate and ensure widespread adoption Develop, implement, and evaluate prevention strategies Identify causes and risk and protective factors Describe the problem Problem Response Mercy JA, Rosenberg ML, Powell KE, Broome CV, Roper WL (1993). Public health policy for preventing violence. Health Affairs, Winter, 7-29.

7. What Are the Major Issues Facing Taxicab Driver Safety?

8. What Are the Major Issues Facing Taxicab Driver Safety?

9. What Are the Major Issues Facing Taxicab Driver Safety?

10. Workplace Violence • Violent assaults and homicides are a leading cause of work-related deaths • 1997-2010, 8,666 workplace homicides occurred • 80% victims male • 80% shooting • 40% robbery-related • Retail, protective services, and transportation activities http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/work_hom.pdf

11. “Iceberg” of Workplace Violence* Lost-time Work Injury Injury Incident Reports?? Assault Threat w/Weapon Threat of Assault VerbalHostility/Bullying Fear/Anxiety Stress/Vigilance * McPaul, K. (2012). “Workplace Violence Prevention in the Service Sector: Informing the Research Agenda”. NORA Service Sector Leadership Meeting.

12. Occupational Homicide Rates*All Workers and Taxicab Drivers *Numerator: BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries from Annual Reports; Denominator: Current Population Survey

13. . Partnerships • IATR • TLPA

14. Why are Taxicab Drivers Disproportionately Affected? • NIOSH Alert identified following risk factors • Exchange of money with the public • Working alone or in small numbers • Working late night or early morning hours • Working in high crime areas • Guarding valuable property or possessions • Working in community settings Each ‘risk factor’ is normal daily activity for taxicab driver

15. Preventing Taxicab Driver Homicides • Safety Equipment • Security cameras • Partitions • GPS Dispatch/Alert • Administrative Policies/Procedures • Safety training • Cashless systems

16. Study Objectives • Primary Evaluate impact of cameras on homicides • Secondary Evaluate impact of partitions on homicides

17. Study Population • Nationwide • Major cities enrolled • Must have population >250,000 • Within MSAs, largest city selected • City that maintains taxicab licenses

18. Data Elements • Taxicab driver homicide count • Two data sources: news clippings and crime reports • Licensed taxicab count • Safety equipment status • City homicide rate • Collected per city and per year

19. Study Design/Analysis • Retrospective longitudinal time series analysis • 1996-2010 • Pre-post with comparison group • Poisson distribution with GEE • Dependent variable: taxicab driver fatality rates • Independent variables: safety equipment status

20. Preliminary Results: News clippings Data

21. . Camera Cities (n=8)

22. . Partition Cities (n=7)

23. . Comparison Cities (n=12)

24. Distribution of Taxicab Driver Homicides by Safety Equipment - Preliminary Data

25. Taxicab Driver Homicides in Camera Cities Pre- and Post-Installation – Preliminary Data *indicates cities with an ordinance mandating cameras Numbers above columns indicate average annual rates of taxicab driver homicides per 10,000 licensed cabs

26. Modeling Intervention Effects on City-wide Taxicab Driver Homicide Rates – Preliminary Data *denotes statistical significance at p≤0.05

27. Preliminary Results: Crime Report Data

28. . Camera Cities (n=7)

29. . Partition Cities (n=7)

30. . Comparison Cities (n=10)

31. Distribution of Taxicab Driver Homicides by Safety Equipment – Preliminary Data

32. Taxicab Driver Homicides in Camera Cities Pre- and Post-Installation – Preliminary Data *indicates cities with an ordinance mandating cameras

33. Modeling Intervention Effects on City-wide Taxicab Driver Homicide Rates – Preliminary Data Bolding denotes statistical significance at p≤0.05

34. Preliminary Conclusions • Both data sources provide congruent findings • The installation of cameras seems to play a role in reducing taxicab driver homicides at a city level • There is no evidence to suggest partitions play a role in reducing taxicab driver homicides at a city level

35. Next Steps • Complete peer review and disseminate these findings to stakeholders – regulators, safety professionals, mayor’s offices, police departments • Interview taxicab drivers using different safety equipment to understand risk factors and protective factors at individual level • Evaluate the role of safety training

36. Thank you! • Acknowledgments • Taxicab Driver Research Team • Very supportive management at DSR and NIOSH • Invaluable efforts of study partners • Contact with any questions/comments Cammie Menendez cmenendez@cdc.gov The findings and conclusions in this presentation have not been formally disseminated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy