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By Morag Cuddeford-Jones
Sleep deprivation is costing fleets eight days’ productivity per employee and it’s on the rise.
Fatigue is a factor in 20% of all road collisions and 25% of all serious and fatal crashes according to GEM Motoring Assist. Research from the Royal Society for Public Health suggests that in general British drivers – not just fleet drivers – are missing out on one full night’s sleep every week.
For those really pushing their limits the consequences can be dire. After 17 hours without sleep, alertness is on a par with having 0.05% blood alcohol, skirting the legal limit for drink driving. After 24 hours of no sleep, that doubles to 0.1% which would push drivers well over the limit had they actually been drinking.
Fleet managers are well aware of the potential impacts of drunk-driving. Bus company Stagecoach has fitted alcolocks to its vehicles to prevent its drivers working with any alcohol in their system at all.
To date no such solution exists for tiredness, even though the impacts are on a par with driving under the influence. Instead, fleet managers have had to rely on driver self-policing or tachographs that impose the same driving period on everyone.
Of course, with targets to meet and a competitive job market, there is a temptation to push on even when tiredness is creeping in.
Creating conditions for optimal health
Long periods spent behind the wheel have been notorious for promoting a variety of poor health conditions. Obesity and heart disease due to unhealthy diets and lack of exercise are common. Even if the actual job of driving doesn’t directly impact a driver’s alertness these two conditions can affect even normal sleep.
The RAC says that 80 pc of fleet businesses would benefit from greater awareness of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). It affects 10pc of the driving population. The most common type of sleep apnoea, it affects middle-aged men the most. A driver with OSAS is nine times more likely to have an accident.
The condition – if drivers are even aware of it – tends to go underreported in fleets. This is largely due to worries about job security but OSAS isn’t a condition that should cost a fleet driver their job. The OSA Partnership Group launched a campaign in January 2016 for professional drivers to be fast-tracked for treatment. It was estimated they would be back driving professionally within four weeks.
Beyond official help from health professionals, fleet managers can encourage their drivers to improve their quality of sleep by incentivising good health. Promoting a healthy diet through vouchers for fresh food outlets or building in job perks such as gym membership could nudge drivers towards not just better sleep but a better quality of life overall.
Health monitoring
Some companies are trialling devices to monitor driver alertness and stress levels as well as sleep quality. A wristband called Ready to Perform should be able to predict when the driver is likely to fall asleep at the wheel.
Other data shows which points in the journey cause a driver most stress meaning they can be avoided in the future. There is hope that this might give drivers more personalised profiles which help create their own safe driving ranges.
Research suggests drivers should take a 15 minute break, minimum, after every two hours of driving or 100 miles. With a greater awareness of route challenges and opportunities for breaks, fleet managers should be able to build in healthy driving habits while also meeting transportation targets.
Healthy drivers are effective drivers and any form of monitoring should be seen to be adding to the quality of their working lives. It needs to help them improve their ability to do their job not deprive them of it. Being able to tailor the level of driving or intensity to individual drivers should help fleet managers optimise their fleet routes and effectiveness.
The benefits of driver sleep management
Optimise routes – altering routes to improve attention or maximise the effectiveness of driving breaks
Improve insurance rates – reducing overall accident rates both current and historic will positively impact insurance costs.
Remove hidden costs – driver downtime, either from accidents or sleep-related illnesses such as stress; vehicle downtime for repairs as a result of accident.
Sleep deprivation is a real issue which is only going to get worse if the challenge goes untackled. Many fleets are already struggling to attract drivers. Part of that is down to the perceived lifestyle problems.
Drivers need to feel support, not surveillance, when it comes to monitoring their performance and be rewarded for positive lifestyle choices that ultimately benefit both them and their employer.
As a fleet manager we have a responsibility to our workforce as well as our employer. And Fluid Thinking from Shell has lots of tips, guidance and information for a happy and efficient fleet…
Top people management skills for fleet managers
As a fleet manager you have to interact with a lots of different people every day. Keeping everyone happy is a real juggling act and some would say you have to be a real people person to do the job.
But managing people effectively isn’t just about getting along well with them – although that certainly helps!
Read the rest of this story here
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http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/5104.html
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