Preliminary results of a National Safety Council survey show that Fortune 500 companies are "heeding the public's growing call to eliminate cell phone use behind the wheel."

Twenty percent of the companies responding to the survey said they have implemented a total ban on cell phone usage that covers all employees. More than half of the policies were implemented since 2008, about a year after NSC urged all companies to do so. At that time NSC asked governors and state legislators to enact similar legislation.

“A driver is four times as likely to crash while talking on a cell phone while driving,” said Janet Froetscher, NSC president and CEO. “Now, in 2011, our call to action is getting results, and our nation’s top employers are taking steps to protect their employees and communities in which they operate by implementing total cell phone bans.”

The NSC survey also found that productivity either increased or remained at the same level for 40 percent of companies with total bans. Meanwhile, about half of the companies with total bans implemented their policies recently and said they do not yet know if productivity has been affected. The NSC’s free Cell Phone Policy Kit has more information on implementing a policy in the workplace.

• During work hours and outside typical work hours
• To or from work appointments and for personal reasons
• In business or personal vehicles
• While having business and personal conversations
• While using employer-provided and employee-owned phones
• While using hands-free and handheld devices

Since NSC made its cell phone ban recommendation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has called upon employers to prohibit any practice that requires or encourages employees to text while driving. FMCSA also issued a rule banning commercial vehicle drivers from texting while driving and in December announced it was accepting public comment on whether that ban should extend to talking on handheld cell phones.