National Safety Council Ranks Louisiana 10th Safest State
Louisiana is the tenth safest state in the nation, according to a first of its kind report from the National Safety Council.
President and CEO Deborah Hersman says the state received an overall grade of C, but no state was awarded an overall A grade. Louisiana did receive an A in the road safety category.
“You’ve got sobriety checkpoints for alcohol impaired drivers. You’ve got a texting ban to keep people from being distracted behind the wheel, and you have a primary seatbelt law to keep people protected if they are in a crash,” Hersman said.
The report finds Louisianans are less safe at work than on the roads, as the state receives an F grade for workplace safety. Hersman says they looked at things like drug-free and smoke-free workplaces and worker’s compensation. She says the state has lots of room for improvement in this category.
“We look at whether or not emergency 911 facilities if they arrive at a big plant that they know exactly where the emergency is, that they can find that building or that part of the plant where the person needs help,” Hersman said.
Louisiana earned a middle of the road C grade for home and community safety, which includes poisonings. Hersman says the most common occurrence they see is overdoses from prescription painkillers. She says laws about prescriber education would go a long way in Louisiana.
“We want to keep everyone safe, and that means making sure that they don’t get access to these drugs, or if they do, that there’s appropriate treatment available if they need it,” Hersman said.