Fit to drive: identifying and addressing driver fatigue

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Annis Byrd
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1 Fit to drive: identifying and addressing driver fatigue

Who is responsible for managing fatigue?

effectively manage fatigue-related risk.

2 Who is responsible for managing fatigue? Fatigue is an identifiable hazard that we know has the potential to cause harm to individuals while on duty. There is a moral & legal obligation under our New Zealand HSE legislation to effectively manage fatigue-related risk. Fatigue can be caused by work & non-work activities therefore, managing fatigue needs to a shared responsibility between employees and employer. Simply adhering to hours of service legislation does not adequately mitigate your risk of fatigue.

3 Recommended risk management approaches to fatigue - from hire to retire! Pre-employment Annual monitoring & education Accident investigation & reasonable cause

4 Things to consider when developing an Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) for your business Duty of Care - employee & employer obligations Consider an employee consultation process Design your fatigue matrix - identify who has the highest exposure to fatigue risk Specify hours of work - including maximum hours, shift rotation, on call requirements & management Rest breaks - provide sufficient recovery time between shifts. Ensure annual leave is taken Specify interventions - such as training, annual health monitoring, objective & subjective monitoring and when they are delivered i.e. pre-employment, annually, incident investigation Determine the workload v s staffing requirements Implement a feedback system

5 Consider the risk exposure for fatigue in your business to determine appropriate activities. Fatigue Risk exposure Matrix

in a sedentary role, you can drift into a micro-sleep, which

6 The dangers of micro sleeps If you become drowsy while driving or while performing a repetitive job or while working in a sedentary role, you can drift into a micro-sleep, which is an involuntary lapse into sleep that lasts around 2 to 15 seconds.

OSA, is a leading contributor to an individual being unable to achieve sufficient

7 Understanding the effects of sleep disorders in the 24/7 workforce For many people, getting a good nights sleep is not easy The sleep disorder, Obstructive Sleep Apnea - OSA, is a leading contributor to an individual being unable to achieve sufficient recovery sleep and therefore puts that individual at a high risk of having a fatigue related crash

8 What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea? Normally during sleep, the airway is kept open by the muscles that control the tongue and soft palate If the muscles relax too much, the airway becomes completely blocked, preventing breathing This is called Obstructive Sleep Apnea, OSA

9 Try holding your breath along with him and see if you can go without oxygen for as long as he does

10 NZ NZTA - Medical aspects of fitness to drive Driving may continue if their OSA is adequately treated under specialist supervision, with satisfactory control of symptoms. New Zealand Transport Agency (July 2009) Medical Aspects of Fitness to Drive (Excerpt )

11 Predict Fatigue. Prevent Crashes. Predictive Fatigue Monitoring for Workforces

12 SAFTE outputs a time-series of scores that represent the fatigue the worker will experience that day, in terms comparable to the effects of alcohol. 100 Sample Output from SAFTE Bio-Mathematical Fatigue Model Fatigue-Impairment Threshold At a score of 70, the worker will face impairment from fatigue equal to that of a 0.08 Blood Alcohol Concentration, in terms of reaction time, lapse likelihood, and cognitive effectiveness. Wake 11:00am 2:00pm 5:00pm 8:00pm 11:00pm

13 Example of a sleep study

Obesity, ageing, drive huge growth in sleep disorders I want to see our grandchildren grow up Garry Heeney did not have the tell-tale signs for sleep apnea.

But about a year ago, he was asked by his employer to wear a wristband device monitoring his activity and fatigue levels in a 24 hour period.

15 Obesity, ageing, drive huge growth in sleep disorders I want to see our grandchildren grow up Garry Heeney did not have the tell-tale signs for sleep apnea. The 58 year old drain layer did not snore or feel tired during the day. But about a year ago, he was asked by his employer to wear a wristband device monitoring his activity and fatigue levels in a 24 hour period. According to the device, he had slept for only three or four hours. Heeney was unconvinced it was a problem but was motivated to get it sorted so he could continue working. I ve got to work, got to pay the bills and I love my job, keeping busy. An overnight sleep study confirmed Heeney s airway had blocked over 30 times hour and he was diagnosed with severe OSA. Heeney went on to CPAP treatment and after two weeks the airway blockage had reduced to just three time per hour and he was told this was an equivalent to 15kgs of weight off his heart.

16 MAKE EXCELLENT FATIGUE MANAGEMENT THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS Z RACHEL@FRMS. CO.NZ

Why Manage? There is a legal and moral obligation to manage workplace fatigue. The benefits can be substantial including:

Why Manage? There is a legal and moral obligation to manage workplace fatigue. The benefits can be substantial including: FATIGUE Introduction Employers have a legal obligation as well as safety and business reasons to deal with fatigue as part of an overall health and safety program. This presentation aims to give information