Driver fatigue could be one of the most dangerous threats on Britain’s roads. Yet it still tends to be overlooked as a preventable risk, with the focus remaining on compliance with regulations such as drivers’ hours rules.
This is at least partly due to the fact it is often difficult to establish fatigue as a contributory factor in road traffic incidents.
At the end of last year, corporate fatigue experts Third Pillar of Health in association with National Highways completed a 14 month-long study to better understand fatigue risk among those who drive for work.
Head of commercial vehicle incident prevention at National Highways Mark Cartwright said: “If we knew 20% of crashes were caused by wheels falling off vehicles, the industry would be all over it. So why is fatigue seen as too difficult to deal with? It’s not right.
“We understand it’s challenging because there is no definitive test for fatigue like there is for alcohol, drugs or mobile phone use when a crash occurs. This makes it hard to manage, but businesses need to be more upfront and open about the amount of risk fatigue poses.
“We are firmly of the opinion that very few crashes are caused by anything to do with the vehicle or the load. Not to say bad vehicles don’t make things worse, but the majority of crashes are related to human behaviour.
“Fatigue can’t be seen as a box ticking exercise. Companies need to focus on how it affects their workers and establish an environment where drivers can say they don’t feel safe to take a vehicle out.”
The study, which surveyed 237 workers across a period of 985 working days, found 78% of drivers missed their weekly sleep need with stress identified as the most common cause – cited by 32% of all respondents.
A further 65% regularly experience sleepiness at work, and for 31% this interferes with daily work activities at least a few days a month.
Researchers looked at how factors like vehicle size, years of driving experience and required physical activity influence fatigue levels.
Key findings included:
• Average sleep before a shift was just 6 hours 37 minutes, with 48% getting under 7 hours and 78% missing their weekly sleep need
• 26% of drivers were at risk for sleep apnoea; 36% for insomnia
• 65% regularly experience sleepiness at work, and for 31% it interferes with daily work activities at least a few days a month
Those driving light commercial vehicles were more likely to report high levels of sleepiness and fatigue affecting performance at work while those with the longest history of driving for work had comparably high levels of sleepiness and were more likely to report fatigue as being very or extremely likely to affect performance at work. Those whose job roles required little or no physical activity had a greater chance of fatigue affecting their performance at work
Fatigue can also be exacerbated by the work environment including dim lighting, high temperatures, high noise and high comfort as well as complex or monotonous work, insufficient breaks and extended workdays.
Another finding from the study is that rather than fatigue risk increasing with each consecutive shift, it fluctuated over a week or schedule, typically peaking in the middle of the pattern.
Marcus de Guingand, MD of Third Pillar of Health, pictured, said: “You would assume that tiredness increased towards the end of the week or shift, but our research shows something entirely different.
“Fatigue isn’t necessarily a well-known risk at the moment. Our aim for the study was to clearly quantify fatigue as a risk in driving operations to show how it can be managed.”
Delay
A common problem is how drivers perceive how fatigue affects their work. The study identified a one-hour delay from when tiredness increases to when they start to feel that it’s affecting performance.
Third Pillar of Health used the data collected during the study to develop a new alertness and cognition test app, which is available on a three-month free trial in conjunction with National Highways.
The app gives drivers an objective view of their alertness at the start of their shift, along with warnings when they may be at risk of low alertness on that day.
De Guingand said: “Having a tool that is in daily use across fleets will answer questions on how much of a major risk fatigue actually is and potentially increase the focus on this risk.”
Technology is increasingly being used to monitor the effects of fatigue in those who drive for work.
This includes the use of telematics systems and cameras in the cab which detect signs of distraction and potential fatigue by monitoring lack of concentration and non-observation of the road and issuing alerts to the driver and potentially to transport managers.
De Guingand said: “Our app can be used in tandem with this technology.
“One fleet we worked with called their drivers after they were first flagged by the cameras to ask if they were okay. After a second alert the driver was asked to return to the depot.
“They then used the alertness test in conjunction with the cameras. If the driver was flagged by the camera and was below their baseline score that day on the alertness test, they were pulled immediately from duty.”
Expensive consequences
Crashes involving fatigued drivers tend to be severe and expensive. Fatigue can decrease a driver’s ability to process information about a hazardous situation as well as their ability to respond, often leading to serious collisions.
For employers this can lead to insurance claims, vehicle downtime, compensation liabilities, replacement staff costs, sick pay and damaged company reputation.
There are also broader socio-economic effects. One estimate suggests tiredness and fatigue in those who drive for work costs organisations, individuals, the government and taxpayers £9.2bn each year in the UK.
This breaks down as £2.7bn for absenteeism, £3.1bn for decreased productivity and £3.2bn for healthcare.
De Guingand said: “Understanding how fatigue affects a driver every day will offer huge benefits not just to workers and companies but across the whole sector.”
Based on the study’s findings, Third Pillar of Health advises organisations to undertake training and implement interventions to help their drivers get an objective view of their alertness and improve their sleep.
Drivers should also understand the signs of fatigue, how to mitigate and reduce it and be clear on the actions they should take if they are too tired to drive safely.
Organisations which effectively address driver fatigue will see economic benefits as well as improvements in key metrics from accidents and incidents to fuel consumption, harsh braking, lane deviations and penalty charge notices.
Health concerns
Beyond working conditions, the health of individual drivers must be considered.
The study suggests sleep disorder screening for drivers - with a clear programme of next steps to follow - is key for organisations to get significant and immediate return on investment, time and money.
Concerningly, data from the study’s voluntary sleep health self-assessment showed 26% of drivers were at risk for sleep apnoea with 36% for insomnia.
Several studies performed in the last 20 years show a clear relationship between sleep disorders and road accidents.
However, diagnosing sleep disorders in transport workers has proven difficult due to perceived or real concerns about loss of employment that tends to discourage those affected from seeking medical care.
Third Pillar of Health faced reluctance from fleets and drivers to participate with their research, despite “significant efforts” to promote the study widely.
De Guingand said: “We had a lot of enthusiasm from fleets who were fantastic, but a number did not engage or initial engagement fell away when discussed with a wider audience at the organisation.
“It’s difficult to say why but perhaps there is a fear of opening the box and risking the problem being exposed in black and white.”
Reluctance
The report also notes a reluctance from drivers to take part in a voluntary study, even in participating fleets.
De Guingand said: “Our study shows that fatigue is a big risk. We understand it is difficult, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it.
“We’re trying to answer the ‘what’s in it for me’ question which may be holding drivers back.
“We’ve seen that organisations running training programmes have much lower crash rates. But addressing driver fatigue might just be opening up the conversation and asking drivers the right questions.”
Third Pillar of Health is currently developing a second app. The incident investigation and individual risk-assessment tool uses extensive data from National Highways and HS2 construction studies.
The app includes an individual risk assessment module where supervisors can ask a set of evidence-based questions to understand how the alertness status of a driver changes over the course of their shift, allowing for intervention before the driver reaches an elevated risk level.
In response to the perceived reluctance of drivers to engage with the previous study, the app allows individual results to be anonymised.
De Guingand said: “The company can see who has participated and the overall results and be able to identify the percentage of staff below or above the baseline.
“If a high percentage of staff are shown to be at risk of fatigue, they can then add mitigations and follow this up with their drivers.
“Of course this relies on clear communication between managers and their drivers and it is up to the employers to use the information we give them at the start of the shift to make better decisions.
“By investigating fatigue as a risk, we can uncover the extent of the issue and build meaningful ways to monitor it.”
Whilst the study focused on drivers and employers, effectively reducing driver fatigue also requires broader industry cooperation between operators, insurers, vehicle manufacturers, and policymakers.
Steps are already being taken to address this with some insurance providers beginning to offer premium reductions for fleets that use verified fatigue-prevention systems.
Elsewhere, trade associations such as the RHA are calling for more industry-wide training and fatigue management frameworks to be included in Driver CPC modules and licensing updates.
Operators interested in participating in a Third Pillar of Health research project should visit the website.
