Some people are more at risk of driving when fatigued than others, and those who drive as part of their job are particularly vulnerable.

There is evidence that the attitudes of employers can influence how well drivers deal with fatigue.

One piece of research examined how the organisational safety climate and occupational stress might influence driving behaviour while fatigued.

They found that fewer ‘near misses’ occurred when drivers exhibited lower levels of work-related stress or worked for organisations with a high awareness of driver safety-related issues. However, while both factors were found to be significant, the occupational safety climate had a far greater effect.

This study really emphasises the importance of the attitudes, policy and training provided by employers.

For instance, research has proved conclusively that there are two times of the day during which collisions due to fatigue are most likely to occur: at night between midnight and 6am and at mid-afternoon in the post-lunch dip.

A sensible risk management action would therefore be to arrange work patterns so that no business driving was required in the early hours and that drivers were mandated to take a break during the afternoon period.

Ideally, people would not drive when they feel sleepy, but in the real world this is hard to police. One thing that is clear from the research is that the risk of having a crash can be reduced if driver safety is taken seriously by both employer and employee.

This involves having policies in place, procedures to identify likely risk scenarios and interventions that are tailored to specific need.