Last week, SafetyXChange published the final installment of a series on how standards established by non-governmental organizations such as the American National Standards Institute which are supposed to be voluntary sometimes end up becoming part of the law. A Canadian government environmental official who read the story relayed the following case study. Because the official belongs to the civil service, the official has asked and we have agreed not to reveal his/her identity. But the words that follow are the official's, edited for format.

U.S. Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards

The aspect of your article that drew my attention was the implied link between voluntary standards and punishment. I don't think that somebody should be punished for not complying with a "voluntary standard."

In Canada, we have National Ambient Air Quality Objectives (NAAQOs) in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act legislation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Act has a set of primary standards (NAAQSs). The benchmark concentration levels of common air pollutants like sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone are comparable in the respective objectives and standards of the two countries.

However, the consequences of noncompliance are different. In the U.S., the standards are mandatory. States must file "state implementation plans" to receive federal funding for certain environmental activities. These plans must satisfy the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that pollutant levels will come down to NAAQS levels. Thus, a state's failure to comply with NAAQS standards puts its federal funding in jeopardy.

In Canada, by contrast, the objectives are voluntary. There are no consequences for provinces and cities for not meeting them, perhaps other than some bad press.

The Pollution Experience

Given the fact that the U.S. standards have more teeth than the Canadian objectives, you might expect that the U.S. would have achieved more significant improvements in reduction of common air pollutants. But this is not the case. The 25-year trends show that improvements in towns and cities are similar in both countries.

In other words, the U.S. approach of making compliance with a standard a legal obligation was no more effective than the Canadian approach of making compliance with the standard voluntary in achieving real ambient air quality improvement.

Of course, this conclusion doesn't definitively prove that one approach is more or less effective than another because there are other significant factors that affected pollution outcomes in the two countries. For example, it's important to note that in the past eight years Canada has come up with a re-worked set of nationwide standards that have the same consequences as the "Objectives" mentioned above.

Conclusion

The issue of whether voluntary standards should be mandatory is a complicated one. And in the field of occupational health and safety where there are so many more detailed voluntary standards, it's a significant one. I hope this case study based on experience in the environmental realm might cast some light on the subject for your members.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

Which States Have the Best & Worst Drivers?

By Glenn Demby

When I went to school in Boston, I was convinced that Massachusetts had the nation's worst drivers. "Massachusetts is a red light optional state," I'd quip. But it turns out that the people of Massachusetts aren't first on the list of American drivers who are the least knowledgeable about the rules of the road. That dubious distinction belongs to the drivers of the state in which I grew up-New Jersey. Massachusetts is only number four on the list.

The "list" I'm talking about comes from GMAC Insurance and is based on how 5,524 licensed drivers from all states did on a written driving test. The 20 questions in the GMAC test came from actual written exams administered by Departments of Motor Vehicles across the country. Some of the notable findings:

Top 10 Most Knowledgeable Drivers

By test score average, in reverse order:

9. Tie between Washington and Iowa (80.7)

8. Oregon (80.9)

6. Tie between South Dakota and Arkansas (81.2)

5. Minnesota (81.5)

4. Idaho (82.7)

3. Nebraska (83.4)

2. Wyoming (83.5)

And the state whose drivers had the highest average test score. . . drum roll, please. . .

1. Kansas (84.0)

Top 10 Least Knowledgeable Drivers

Since I already let on that New Jersey was number one on the least knowledgeable list, I'll just do the list in order rather than reverse order.

1. New Jersey (69.9)

2. Washington, DC (72.9)

3. New York (74.0)

4. Massachusetts (75.0)

5. Georgia (75.5)

6. Mississippi (75.7)

7. Hawaii (76.3)

8. Louisiana (76.4)

9. West Virginia (76.5)

10. Maryland (76.8)

Source: Fourth Annual GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test, June 12, 2008, http://www.gmacinsurance.com/SafeDriving/2008/PressRelease.asp

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TOP 5 DRIVING MISTAKES THAT CAUSE CRASHES

Multi-tasking and driving don?t mix

Source: GMAC

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