Concern about the cost and impact of fatigue in the road transport industry and the effectiveness and relevance of traditional driving hours regulation has made this report of the fatigue expert group especially timely.
The Parliaments of both Australia and New Zealand consider fatigue in the road transport industry important enough to establish committees of inquiry into issues and possible solutions.
In February 2000 the National Road Transport Commission of Australia, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the New Zealand Land Transport Safety Authority jointly sponsored the establishment of a fatigue expert group to develop options for the medium term development of prescriptive hours of driving and work in the road transport industry.
The fatigue expert group comprised leading Australian and New Zealand experts in sleep, shiftwork and road safety who collaborated with the participating agencies and industry representatives to construct a set of evidence-based design principles for regulatory options.
The framework proposed by the fatigue expert group needs to be supported by other mechanisms to promote fatigue management. These other mechanisms include education, information, training, road treatments, technological aids and financial incentives/sanctions through workers compensation, vehicle insurance and safety management regimes.
The management of driver fatigue is not a matter for operators and drivers alone and the fatigue expert group emphasised the requirements and practices of others in the transport supply chain. The chain of responsibility provisions in current road transport legislation is designed to highlight that on-road performance is closely related to the decisions made by customers, consignors and loaders.
There are significant incentives in the social and economic profile of the transport industry for scheduling, trip planning and consequent driver practices that increase fatigue related risks. Competitive pressures, payment systems, contracting arrangements and even the unintended consequences of the current driving hours regime combine to create an environment in which fatigue has become an accepted part of industry practice.
The expert group was conscious of the need to provide a flexible and practicable framework in which fatigue could be actively managed by all those who are part of the supply chain.
The model of fatigue used by the expert group was centred on three primary factors that contribute to, and explain driver fatigue:
The Parliaments of both Australia and New Zealand consider fatigue in the road transport industry important enough to establish committees of inquiry into issues and possible solutions.
In February 2000 the National Road Transport Commission of Australia, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the New Zealand Land Transport Safety Authority jointly sponsored the establishment of a fatigue expert group to develop options for the medium term development of prescriptive hours of driving and work in the road transport industry.
The fatigue expert group comprised leading Australian and New Zealand experts in sleep, shiftwork and road safety who collaborated with the participating agencies and industry representatives to construct a set of evidence-based design principles for regulatory options.
The framework proposed by the fatigue expert group needs to be supported by other mechanisms to promote fatigue management. These other mechanisms include education, information, training, road treatments, technological aids and financial incentives/sanctions through workers compensation, vehicle insurance and safety management regimes.
The management of driver fatigue is not a matter for operators and drivers alone and the fatigue expert group emphasised the requirements and practices of others in the transport supply chain. The chain of responsibility provisions in current road transport legislation is designed to highlight that on-road performance is closely related to the decisions made by customers, consignors and loaders.
There are significant incentives in the social and economic profile of the transport industry for scheduling, trip planning and consequent driver practices that increase fatigue related risks. Competitive pressures, payment systems, contracting arrangements and even the unintended consequences of the current driving hours regime combine to create an environment in which fatigue has become an accepted part of industry practice.
The expert group was conscious of the need to provide a flexible and practicable framework in which fatigue could be actively managed by all those who are part of the supply chain.
The model of fatigue used by the expert group was centred on three primary factors that contribute to, and explain driver fatigue:
- the need to ensure that drivers have adequate pportunities to sleep;
- the need to take account of the circadian biological clock, which dictates that drivers cannot work or sleep equally well at all times of the day and night;
- the need to address the fatiguing aspects of work demands, including the duration of work and the availability of breaks during work, which offer the opportunity for temporary recuperation from the effects of fatigue.
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