RHA has teamed up with the Diabetes Safety Organisation to raise awareness of the disease within the haulage industry.
Diabetes Safety Organisation will speak at RHA regional briefings, host webinars and visit truck stops to educate drivers as part of the National Lorry Week campaign in October.
The move follows a meeting last week between RHA managing director Richard Smith and Kate Walker, who heads up the Diabetes Safety Organisation, to discuss how the two organisations can work together to make transport industry workers more aware of the symptoms of diabetes.
More than one in 12 people has diabetes and that there are five million people in the UK diagnosed with the condition.
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Speaking from the RHA’s Peterborough HQ, Smith said: “I was genuinely surprised to learn that 700 people in the UK are diagnosed with diabetes every day. That’s why we are teaming up with the Diabetes Safety Organisation to raise awareness within the industry.”
The RHA will be working closely with the Diabetes Safety Organisation to raise awareness of diabetes with employees, members, and the road transport industry.
The sedentary nature of truck drivers work makes them particularly vulnerable to health issue such as diabetes, research has found.
A 2017 study into lorry drivers health by Loughborough University, which surveyed 159 HGV drivers, ranging in age from 24 to 67, found that 84% were overweight or obese and that 43% had type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.