Safe and Healthy Drivers

In our shared ‘OSH world’, we speak often about drivers for change, setting key performance indicators for our organisations. Getting road safety right is a life skill, from learning to cross the road as a child, riding your first bicycle and progressing onto learning to drive… at each stage you can keep yourself and other road users safe by following the rules of the road.

And whether you are riding a bicycle, a powered two wheeler, driving a car, van, or truck, the discipline of maintenance checks before you head off on your journey to work or during your leisure time keeps you and other road users safe. In the UK cars are subject to an annual MoT (Ministry of Transport UK) to check their roadworthiness, and if they fail they are no longer permitted on the road.

According to the World Health Organization • Approximately 1.35 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes. • Road traffic crashes cost most countries three per cent of their gross domestic product. • More than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. • 93 per cent of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low and middle-income countries, even though these countries have approximately 60 per cent of the world's vehicles. • Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years.

Behind the wheel of each vehicle is a driver that can influence change, and as part of achieving sustainable development goals there is a need to focus on driver health and fitness to drive…recognising the value that those who drive for work add to our organisations.

Fit to drive

A person's fitness to drive can be affected by a medical condition, by temporary illness, substances such as alcohol and by the environment in which they work, drive and live.

Health impairments, such as stress, sleep disturbance, migraine, flu, severe colds and hayfever can lead to unsafe driving. Sometimes, the treatment prescribed or medicines purchased at the pharmacy also impair someone’s driving.

Fit to drive: Fatigue

Driver fatigue is a serious problem resulting in many thousands of road accidents each year. It is not possible to calculate the exact number of sleep related accidents but research shows that driver fatigue may be a contributory factor in up to 20 per cent of road accidents, and up to one quarter of fatal and serious accidents.

These types of crashes are about 50 per cent more likely to result in death or serious injury as they tend to be high speed impacts. This is because a driver who has fallen asleep cannot brake or swerve to avoid or reduce the impact.

Sleepiness increases the time it takes to react (a critical element of safe driving). It also reduces vigilance, alertness and concentration so that the ability to perform attention-based activities (such as driving) is impaired. The speed at which information is processed is also reduced by sleepiness. The quality of decision-making may also be affected.

Fatigue related accidents happen on long journeys on monotonous roads, such as motorways, at times of the day when people would usually be sleeping, or later in the afternoon, especially after eating, or taking even one alcoholic drink. Driving home after long working hours especially for night shift workers is also a risk.

Fit to drive: eyesight

Good eyesight is vital for safe driving. Drivers and motorcyclists must be able to read a standard number plate from a distance of 20 metres (or 20.5m for an old style number plate) wearing corrective lenses if required. You must wear glasses or contact lenses every time you drive if you need them to meet the ‘standards of vision for driving’.

Although eyesight often gets worse as we grow older, people can develop a range of eyesight conditions at any age. Glaucoma and Cataract are perhaps the most well known conditions, but diabetes and other age-related diseases, if left unidentified and untreated, can also affect vision seriously enough to prevent safe road use.

Visual impairment is a barrier to driving and a key component of driver health.

Cataract: Research undertaken in 2010, found that one in three blind people were blind due to cataract, and one of six visually impaired people were visually impaired due to cataract.

Glaucoma: is a leading cause of blindness across the world, and according to the WHO glaucoma presents perhaps an even greater public health challenge than cataracts: because the blindness it causes is irreversible

Prevention is easier than cure: The general recommendation is to have an eyesight check every two years, or more often if your optician recommends it. This will help to make sure you meet the minimum eyesight standards for driving and will usually identify the majority of common eyesight conditions early as they develop.

Managing driver health

Labour shortages are impacting on the value chain across the world, creating conditions that ensure drivers are ‘happy, healthy and here’ has personal, organisational and societal benefits. Driver health should be managed proactively as an integral part of an organisations ‘management of occupational road risk’ policy alongside vehicle and journey issues.

Assessing risk and implementing control measures is essential in setting a baseline for performance improvement, great strides have been made in terms of vehicle safety. The Global New Car Assessment Programme for example actively promotes the use of safer vehicles and technologies by fleet managers…technology that saves lives. In vehicle technology has become a standard means by which to improve performance, a ‘safe driver’ intervention which aims to reduce driving for work incidents, injuries and costs, but can also include identifying higher risk drivers, vehicles and routes, optimising routes and schedules, reducing exposure to high risk driving situations, identifying driver training needs, reducing vehicle costs and improving accident investigation.

Can we use technology to step into ‘healthy driver’ interventions?

Safe and healthy driver interventions have to be person centred to establish fitness to drive. Creating a driver health baseline and blending with the safety baseline established through risk assessment provides the opportunity to bring technology into play.

Fatigue detection and warning devices are available which detect when drivers are sleepy and warn them. However, would drivers rely on them, and may even be tempted to drive when they are tired, believing that the device will prevent an accident?

A parallel can be drawn with personal protective equipment in this context, it is a ‘last line of defence’ when all other control measures identified through risk assessment have been implemented.

Technological advances in health and safety save lives, but don’t forget the importance of stopping to ask your drivers how well they are. As the person behind the wheel they are critical in not only in terms of delivering on behalf of your organisation, but also in terms of delivering performance improvement on the worlds roads.