Drivers’ Exhaustion can be a Silent Killer on the Road
One of the most common reasons for road accidents is drivers who get fatigued due to their busy schedule. Brake, a road safety charity has started the Fleet Safety Forum which is currently undertaking a campaign against this problem.
The Wake Up! campaign is focusing its attention on the employers and trying to convince them to ensure that the work schedule of their drivers is not so exhaustive that they cause mishaps on the road due to it. Recession has increased work pressure on these drivers making accidents due to exhaustion more likely.
A recent study by Brake shows that the 50% of the people who drive for their livelihood often work without even five hours of sleep while the percentage in case of non-professional drivers is around 35%. Every one out of ten professional drivers also confessed to falling asleep on the wheel when in case of other drivers only one out of 20 admitted to the same.
Thus the charity has made free information packs for drivers and fleet managers and is also organising workshops to give them health and safety guidelines. The aim is to enable them to recognise the signs of tiredness and to stop them from driving without resting properly.
Roz Cumning from Brake commented that it is important to carry out risk management (click on risk assessment courses) on issues of driver tiredness otherwise it may endanger the workers as well as kill other people without anyone even realizing the magnitude of the threat.
