Canadian Occupational Safety

22 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com time for a break. These include scheduling and trip routing software; in-vehicle monitoring systems that look at eye mea- surements, lane departures, steering input and reaction time; and personal monitor- ing devices the driver wears that assess sleep, rest and activity patterns. Fatigue can also contrib- ute to mental health issues. Truckers have significant issues affecting their mental health, such as loneliness (27.9 per cent), depression (26.9 per cent), chronic sleep disturbances (20.6 per cent) and anxiety (14.5 per cent), according to Trucking Organization and Mental Health Disorders of Truck Drivers, a survey of 316 American truck drivers in 2012. "When they're on the road, their loved ones are back home, so there's an amount of stress that's playing on their minds while they are sitting there behind the wheel," says Corkum. "It's just not about getting the product out, it's about their home life and their personal life and who's looking after the washing machine when it breaks down and all those types of things." Liberty has a wonderful resource for helping its workers deal with mental health issues: one of its part-time driv- ers is also a professional counsellor. Because he works for the trucking company, the counsellor is perfectly equipped to understand the stress- ors drivers face and to assist them in coping with diffi cult situations. "We actually had a fatality where a young girl made a big mistake in front of one of our trucks and it had nothing to do with our driver but that's still a horrifi c thing, when a girl gets killed. It's a worst-case scenario for that driver and our company so we worked with him post-accident for a couple of months to try to deal with what his feelings were," says Taylor. Supervisors at Liberty Linehaul are trained to pick up on changes of behaviour among drivers. For exam- ple, if a guy who is normally punctual is suddenly late a lot, his supervisor knows to bring him in and fi nd out what's really going on — not just rep- rimand him, says Taylor. "We have had guys come in and they don't seem themselves, something's going on at home and we have said 'Listen, you're not going anywhere, you need to go home and take care of that, you're not going to be safe on the road with all that on your mind. We'll fi gure out how to cover this load, we'll get someone else on it.'" Employees have access to a 24-7 mental health hotline and they are covered for in-person counselling ses- sions through the EAP as well. INJURIES Drivers of heavy trucks and tractor trailers experience high rates of non- fatal injuries — three times more than the general worker population, found the Obesity and Other Risk Fac- tors survey. And worker health has a role to play. "People who are not fi t and well are more prone to injuries from their day- to-day activities," says Kurtzer. "Some drivers don't just drive, they need to load and unload their vehicles and someone who is obese and not exer- cising at all is going to be more prone to musculoskeletal injuries." Workers with poor health are at an increased risk of strains and sprains, particularly to the back, shoulder, neck and knees, he says, which can keep them off work. It's in employers' best interest to invest in their employees' health because it results in improved pro- ductivity and decreased benefi ts costs, says Kurtzer. In addition, the employer also has various responsibilities to make sure drivers are healthy because that could affect liability insurance, says Corkum. For Liberty Linehaul, creating a "cul- ture of caring" about the employees has clear benefi ts for all. "From our perspective, health issues create inconsistent workers," says Taylor. "If we want to have a good workforce and have them available, we need to make sure they're success- ful, they're making money and also that they're healthy. That fi lters back economically for us through workers' compensation issues and days off and doctor's appointments and the more proactive we can be with their health, the better off we are and they are." time for a break. These include scheduling and trip routing software; in-vehicle monitoring systems that look at eye mea- surements, lane departures, steering input and reaction time; and personal monitor- ing devices the driver wears that assess sleep, rest and activity patterns. Fatigue can also contrib- ute to mental health issues. Truckers have significant issues affecting their mental health, such as loneliness (27.9 per cent), depression (27.9 per cent), depression (27.9 per cent), depression (26.9 per cent), chronic (26.9 per cent), chronic sleep disturbances (20.6 sleep disturbances (20.6 per cent) and anxiety (14.5 per cent), per cent) and anxiety (14.5 per cent), according to according to Trucking Organization and Mental Health Disorders of Truck Drivers Mental Health Disorders of Truck Drivers a survey of 316 American truck drivers a survey of 316 American truck drivers time for a break. These time for a break. These include scheduling and include scheduling and trip routing software; trip routing software; in-vehicle monitoring in-vehicle monitoring systems that look at eye mea- systems that look at eye mea- surements, lane departures, surements, lane departures, steering input and reaction steering input and reaction time; and personal monitor- time; and personal monitor- ing devices the driver wears ing devices the driver wears that assess sleep, rest and that assess sleep, rest and activity patterns. activity patterns. Fatigue can also contrib- Fatigue can also contrib- ute to mental health issues. ute to mental health issues. Truckers have significant Truckers have significant issues affecting their mental issues affecting their mental health, such as loneliness health, such as loneliness (27.9 per cent), depression (27.9 per cent), depression is; they start to recognize it in them- selves," says Clarke. As individuals, there is a lot of research that shows we grossly underes- timate our level of fatigue, says Clarke, so it's important to make sure others are aware of the signs and symptoms. The corporate safety culture plays a big role in managing fatigue, as driv- ers need to know they are supported if they need to take a break. "The drivers, if they are feeling fatigued, are permitted to haul off on the side of the road and rest, as long as they let the dispatcher know, and they need to record it in their log books," says Corkum. "It's up to the individual drivers. There are drivers that will go until they arrive at their destination and there are others that will say 'You know what, my life is worth more, so I'm going to take a pause here.'" There is also a wide range of fatigue management technology available that can alert the driver when it's "If you're working those long hours… you're going to be fatigued," says Corkum. Fleet companies should have a comprehensive fatigue management program in place to manage this risk. Firstly, carriers have to realize that abid- ing by government hours of service regulations are not an effective means of fatigue management, says Clarke. "It does not deal with things like the diffi culty of enforcement, the circadian fi t of drivers, the limited ability to rest, driver health. There are so many things that are a part of fatigue management that just aren't considered in hours of service," he says. Carriers can implement the North American Fatigue Management Pro- gram in their organizations for free. The program consists of 10 different modules covering topics such as safety culture, sleep disorder management and driver scheduling. "The most effective thing you can do is have your drivers and dispatch- ers and drivers' families and company executives all take the training so they have an understanding of what fatigue The classic OH&S resource in the format you prefer Now you can access the go- to OH&S resource for Ontario companies – the "Green Book" – as a smart eBook on your iPad, Android tablet or directly from your web browser. Powered by the Thomson Reuters ProView™ app, our eBook gives you the freedom and fl exibility to work wherever and whenever you want. You get fast, convenient access to the complete current Ontario Occupational Health & Safety Act and regulations, and a list of OH&S information resources. In addition to the updates to the Act and Regulations, the 2015 edition includes the following new feature: A new section has been added providing practical guidance on accident prevention, investigations, and reporting, including information on work refusals and a due diligence checklist. 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