{"id":5151,"date":"2018-04-19T10:06:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T10:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/?p=5151"},"modified":"2018-04-19T10:06:36","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T10:06:36","slug":"fatigue-management-helping-employees-avoid-drowsy-driving-collisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/fatigue-management-helping-employees-avoid-drowsy-driving-collisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Fatigue management: helping employees avoid drowsy driving collisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Driver fatigue\u00a0could be a factor in up to ten percent of crashes, according to a recently published AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety\u00a0report<\/a>. That\u2019s much higher than the one to two percent previously estimated by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrowsy driving is a bigger traffic safety issue than federal estimates show,\u201d says Dr. David Yang, Executive Director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. \u201cDrivers who don\u2019t get enough sleep are putting everyone on the road at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

eDriving\u2019s sleep advisor Dr. Shelby Harris, a Psychologist and Board-Certified Behavioral Sleep Medicine specialist, says a lack of\u00a0sleep negatively impacts attention, concentration, mood, relationships, reaction time, coordination and memory.\u00a0\u201cAdd all of these areas up and it can lead to a very dangerous situation behind the wheel,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u201cDrivers especially need to be aware of the effects of both short- and long-term sleep deprivation. A good night\u2019s sleep is extremely important for the safety of all on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fleet and risk managers are in a key position to observe the potential impact of fatigue at work and help employees take preventative action against drowsy driving. Here are Harris\u2019 tips:<\/p>\n

Make it clear what is expected of employees. <\/strong>Establish or evaluate policies for driver hours, rest breaks, driver training and education, reporting sleep problems, driver monitoring and investigation of fatigue-related incidents.<\/p>\n

Include fatigue-related education and training<\/strong> for new recruits, as refresher training for all employees and \u201cintervention\u201d coaching for drivers considered high risk or as needing additional support. \u201cEncouraging employees to manage sleep, work, health and body-clock helps to reduce their risk levels for fatigue-related collisions,\u201d says Harris.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s also important that they know how to recognize signs of fatigue and what short-term measures to take if fatigue strikes while they\u2019re driving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have an \u201copen door\u201d for employees on fatigue-related problems<\/strong> such as sleep disorders or personal issues affecting sleep, either temporarily or long-term. \u201cToo many employees, particularly those suffering from a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea, put off speaking to their manager as they\u2019re worried about losing their job,\u201d Harris advises.\u00a0\u201cWhile it might be appropriate to take an employee off driving duties while a concern is investigated, it\u2019s helpful for managers to reassure employees that speaking up is encouraged \u2013 and required \u2013 for everyone\u2019s safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Encourage trip scheduling to minimize the risk of fatigue. <\/strong>\u201cThis includes avoiding driving between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. unless essential,\u201d says Harris.\u00a0\u201cEnsuring employees have the opportunity to obtain adequate rest prior to and between trips helps to reduce risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Use tools to keep track of risk factors for fatigue. <\/strong>\u201cThis might include monitoring driver hours, trip times and rest breaks. And don\u2019t overlook obvious signs of fatigue such as yawning,\u201d adds Harris.<\/p>\n

Look for signs of fatigue when investigating collisions. <\/strong>\u201cThe cause of a collision is not always apparent, but clues such as time of incident, severity, number of vehicles involved, location and driving behavior prior to the collision can add up to indicate the potential involvement of fatigue,\u201d Harris concludes.<\/p>\n

To\u00a0learn more about\u00a0how driver fatigue increases crash risk and collision severity, the key elements of a fatigue risk management program and habits to help employees improve sleep quality and reduce risk, download eDriving’s new white paper, co-authored by Dr. Shelby Harris:<\/p>\n

Awake at the Wheel: Why Lack of Sleep is not a Badge of Honor but a License to Kill <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Driver fatigue\u00a0could be a factor in up to ten percent of crashes, according to a recently published AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety\u00a0report. That\u2019s much higher than the one to two percent previously estimated by the U.S. government. \u201cDrowsy driving is a bigger traffic safety issue than federal estimates show,\u201d says Dr. David Yang, Executive Director […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-driving-for-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}