Transport and Road Safety (TARS) Research Centre

Fa#gueManagementforHeavyVehicleDrivers

ProfAnnWilliamsonTransportandRoadSafety(TARS)ResearchCentre

[Presenta8ontoChainofResponsibilityandHeavyVehicleSafetyConference,2017]

TARS

Research

AccordingtoHeavyVehicleNa#onalLaw

Sec#on223:Whatisfa#gue?Fa8gueincludes(butisnotlimitedto)—(a)feelingsleepy;and(b)feelingphysicallyormentally8red,wearyordrowsy;and(c)feelingexhaustedorlackingenergy;and(d)behavinginawayconsistentwithparagraph(a),(b)or(c).

Mainfactorscausingfa8gue

Sleep-related

Timeofday-

relatedFa8gue

Natureoftask-related Crashes

Mainfactorscausingfa8gue

Sleep-related

Timeofday-

relatedFa8gue

Natureoftask-related

Crash

Longhoursofwork

24houropera8ons

Timesensi8vework

Job-relatedfactorscausingfa8gue

Mainfactorscausingfa#gue

Job-relatedfactors

causingfa#gue

Sleep-related

Timeofday-

relatedFa8gue

Natureoftask-related

Crash

Longhoursofwork

24houropera8ons

Timesensi8vework

Drivershortages Increased

outsourcing

Tightprofitmargins

IntenseCompe88on

Largertrucks

Manysmall

companies

Increasedrunningempty

Paidbyon-roadworkoutput

Industry-relatedfactors

•  Increasingreportsof8rednessandsleepiness•  Nega8veeffectsoncapacitytoperform•  Especiallyundercondi8onswhicharemonotonousorintrinsicallylowarousal-problemsof“underload”.

•  Inconsistentperformanceincludinglapsesorfailuretosustaina\en8on.

•  A\emp8ngtoovercomefa8gueeffectsrequireseffortwhichcanincreasefa8gue

Fa8gue:Theeffects?

Roadfatali8esa\ributabletofa8gue

Figure 7: Worker fatalities: proportion by industry of employer, all years (2003 to 2013 combined) and 2013

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Financial & insurance services Information media & telecommunications

Education & training Professional, scientific & technical services

Accommodation & food services Rental, hiring & real estate services

Health care & social assistance Wholesale trade

Electricity, gas, water & waste services Administrative & support services

Other services Arts & recreation services

Mining Retail trade

Manufacturing Public administration & safety

Construction Transport, postal & warehousing

Agriculture, forestry & fishing

Proportion of worker fatalities

2013 All years

Worksafety

Fatalityrateper100,000workersforworstfourindustries,Australia,2003-2013

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Agriculture,forestry&fishing

(Agriculture)

Transport,postal&warehousing

(RoadTransport)

(RoadFreightTransport)

Mining

Construc8on

Allindustries

FatalityRateper100,000workers

SafeworkAustralia,2014

Roadtransport:aworkplacesafetyproblem

•  TheTransport,postal&warehousingindustry–  7.76fatali8esper100000workers–  five8mesthena8onalrate.

•  TheRoadtransportsectorthree-quartersofthefatali8esin–  75%offatali8esinindustry–  15.99fatalityrate–  doubletheratefortheindustryasawhole.

•  TheRoadfreighttransportsub-sector.–  28%oftheworkersintheindustrybut74%ofthefatali8es.–  20.46fatali8esper100000workers,–  128mesthena8onalrate–  2.58mesrateforthisindustry.

Currentfa8gueriskmanagementapproach

•  Hoursofservice–  Prescrip8vetosafetycasemodel(Standardhours,BFM,AFM)

–  Enforcementregimethroughworkdiaries,roadsideandrandomchecking(Police,Roadauthorityinspectors)

•  Chainofresponsibility–  Sharedresponsibility/accountabilityacrosstransportchain

•  Na8onalapproach(somewhat)•  Predominantlyintransportlaw

NHVR:Aboutchainofresponsibilityv “Ifyouconsign,pack,loadorreceivegoodsaspartofyour

business,youcouldbeheldlegallyliableforbreachesoftheHeavyVehicleNa8onalLaweventhoughyouhavenodirectroleindrivingoropera8ngaheavyvehicle.Thisisthe‘chainofresponsibility’(COR)”.

TheaimofCORis:ensureeveryoneinthesupplychainsharesequalresponsibilityforensuringbreachesoftheHVNLdonotoccur.–  Itcoversallpar8esinsupplychainwhoexercise(orhavethecapabilityofexercising)controlorinfluenceoveranytransporttaskandthereforehavearesponsibilitytoensuretheHVNLiscompliedwith.

–  Legalliabilityappliestoallpar8esfortheirac8onsorinac8ons.

Whoarethepar#esinthesupplychain?Anypersonwithaninfluenceand/orcontrolinthetransportchainisa‘party’including:

•  corpora8ons,partnerships,unincorporatedassocia8onsorotherbodiescorporate

•  employersandcompanydirectors•  exporters/importers•  primaryproducers•  drivers(includingabusdriverandanowner-driver)•  primecontractorsofdrivers•  theoperatorofavehicle•  schedulersofgoodsorpassengersfortransportinoronavehicle,andtheschedulerofitsdriver

•  consignors/consignees/receiversofthegoodsfortransport•  loaders/unloadersofgoods•  loadingmanagers(thepersonwhosupervisesloading/unloading,ormanagesthepremiseswherethisoccurs).

Freightforwarders/Consigners

Employers/Schedulers

Drivers/Contractors

Freightreceivers

Customer

Police/RMSInspectors

Law/Rules/NHVL

Police/RMSInspectors

CoR?

CoR?

Yes •  Na8onalconsistency

(almost)

No

•  Hoursofworkallowedaretoolong

•  Lawfailstoacknowledgecontextualandwork-relatedinfluences

Does current Heavy Vehicle Law make us safer?

Hours of Service …

Ø Verylonghoursofworkarepermi\edcomparedtoanyotherindustry,andwithtooli\le8meforrest/recovery

•  Standard=12hrsworkin24,72hrs/week,7hrcon8nuousrestin24•  BasicFa8gueManagement(BFM)=14hrsworkin24,84hrs/week,7(6+2)con8nuousrestin24

(IndustrialAwardsallow35-38hrsperweek)

Itsaboutwork….

v Heavyvehiclesareusedforwork.

v Theroadisaworkplacev Heavyvehicledriversdosoto

earnalivingv Companiesmovefreightto

makemoney

Recognising context of driving/moving freight

•  Mostdrivers(65%)paidonlyfordriving-relatedwork(bytriporload)

•  Fewpaidforloading(<50%),orwai8ng/queueing(<26%)•  Remunera8onbasedoncompe88vepressuresforloads,

nottheworktaskrequired-Enormousdifferencesinremunera8onforloadsbetweendifferentcentres(MelbtoanywhereVsanywheretoMelb)

•  Manytripscostedatratesbelowbreakeven!

Prac8ceimplica8onsofwork-relatedness

Evidence…………You decide

But do these characteristics allowed by the current Heavy Vehicle Law make us less safe?

•  Driversaredoinglongerhours

•  53.8%driversdo>70hrsperweek

•  BFM(allowedin2008),now65%driversworkit

è whenweallowlongerhours:

industrytakesthem

Allowing long hours and limited remuneration…..

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1991 1998 2006 2013

Meanho

ursw

orkedpe

rweek

Surveyreported

Meanhoursworkedperweek

•  Fa8gueisacommonexperiencefordrivers–  72%onatleastsometrips–  55.2%onthelasttrip

•  Safety-relatedeventsarealsocommon.Driverreports:–  49%crossingoverlanelines–  45%near-misses–  36%noddingoffwhiledriving–  14%run-off-roadevents

•  Especiallywheredriverreportsfa8gueascommon

è thereareadverseeffectsofcurrentprac8ces

Does allowing long hours matter…..?

•  5surveysshow:-longhoursfordrivers=greaterfa8gue

•  3surveysshow:-trip-basedpayment=longerhoursandgreaterfa8gue(***butdidnotearnmore!)– Samefornopayforloading/wai8ng

Demonstratedlinkbetweencontext/hoursandadversesafetyoutcomes

Paymentsandfa8gue

Survey1(1991)

Survey2(1999)

Survey3(2006)

Survey4(2012)

Survey5(2013)

Hrs/wk 62.6 57.8 55.9 ? 68.6%>72hrsperweek 30.1% 22.6% 16% 53.8%* 29.4%

Experiencefa#gueonatleasthalfoftrips

56.0% 30.9% ? 72% 70%

Fa#gueonlasttrip 50.6% 45% ? ? 55.2%

Paymentbytrip >50% 68.3% 76% ? 65%

Characteristics of driver work and fatigue experiences

*Responsecategorywas70-99hrs

Paymentsandfa8gue

Fa#gueonatleasthalfoftrips Fa#gueonlasttrip

Survey1(1991)

Survey2(1999)

Survey3(2013)

Survey1(1991)

Survey2(1999)

Survey3(2013)

Paymentbyresult

53.5% 32.6% 30.8% 58.6%

Paymentby#me

28.9% 18.8% 16.2% 43.8%

p<0.001 p<0.001 P<0.001 p<0.001 ns P<0.001

Relationship between payment type and fatigue

•  5surveysshow:-longhoursfordrivers=greaterfa8gue

•  3surveysshow:-trip-basedpayment=longerhoursandgreaterfa8gue(butdidnotearnmore!)–  Samefornopayforloading/wai8ng

•  Crashcase-controlstudyshowedpredictorsofcrashes:–  Emptyloads(x2-3)–  Nightdriving(x3)–  Nobreakfor>4hrs(x2-3)

Demonstratedlinkbetweencontext/hoursandadversesafetyoutcomes

Rela8onship-Externalpressuresandsafety

Produc8vity-based

remunera8on

Needtocompletefreighttaskquickly

Speeding

LongdistancesIrregularworking

hoursetc

Fa8gue

S8mulantuse

CrashesPressures Payment style etc

Work practices of drivers/company

Unsafe outcomes

Compe88on

Tightmargins

Poormaintenance

What do we need to do about it? NOT

– Focusontechnology(withoutalsodealingwithcontext)

– Telldriversthatitsallaboutsleep(prescribedhrsdonotallowenough8me)

– Tougherenforcement(withoutalsodealingwithcontext)

What do we need to do about it? MUST-ExpandourfocustoincludeWHSissues

Produc8vity-based

remunera8on

Needtocompletefreighttaskquickly

Speeding

LongdistancesIrregularworkinghours

etc

Fa8gue

S8mulantuse

CrashesPressures Payment style etc

Work practices of drivers/companies

Unsafe outcomes

Compe88on

Tightmargins

Poormaintenance

What do we need to do about it? (if we really want to)

•  Explorewaysofaddressingpressuresduetoworkcontext–  Reviewprescribedwork-resthours(again)–  Reviewinfluenceofmo8vatorsforunsafeprac8ces:

•  Payingdriversforallwork(driving,nondrivingwork,backloads)

•  Cos8ngbasedonrealcosts•  Avoidpressuresbasedon‘opera8onalneed’blinding

awareness/recogni8onofgoodsafetyprac8ces•  InvolveWHS

è Tacklethecausesofthesesafetyproblems

OWNER-DRIVERS SHOULDN'T BE PAID FOR FATIGUE BREAKS, COMMISSION RULES

NSWIndustrialRela8onsCommissionruledthatowner-driversworkingundertheTransportIndustry–GeneralCarriersContractDetermina7onwerenoten8tledtoreceivepaymentforfa8guebreaksonthebasisthat,likemealbreaks,theyarean

interrup8ontoworkanddefinedasnotwork,soshouldnotbepaid.

•  Exampleofroadandworkplaceperspec8vesnotworkingtogether…..

ATN,BradGardner25.06.2014

Thankyou

(Not funny)