Fatigue Focus
Don’t be a superhero, if you’re feeling tired have a power nap, get
some proper sleep or get someone else to drive.
WORDS BY DANIEL BRAID AND TAC
D
rowsy driving is suspected to be a primary
cause in more than 20% of road fatalities.
Most fatigue-related accidents occur during
normal sleeping hours, and the more severe the
crash, the more likely it is that the driver or drivers
were fatigued. It is believed that fatigue is a likely
factor in almost one third of single-vehicle crashes
in rural areas.
Many people think fatigue is only a problem for
long-distance drivers, however it is just as relevant
for short-distance drives. People generally don’t
become fatigued from driving itself. Instead drivers
are typically already tired when they get behind the
wheel from long hours, shift work, lack of sleep,
sleep apnoea or physically demanding roles.
safety duties investigation into a Victorian trucking
company in relation to fatigue management of its
drivers.
“We believe the company failed to comply
with conditions of its fatigue management
accreditation,” Hassall said. “As a result of that
investigation, NHVR has laid charges against both
the company and the company director for failing
to meet these duties.”
In light of this, it is clear that keeping on top of
driver fatigue is paramount to the role of the
fleet manager. Your body can’t fight the need to
sleep - chemicals build up in your brain until they
reach a tipping point and you will fall asleep. It’s
your responsibility to educate your drivers of
this risk and to enforce reasonable breaks and
allowances to ensure fatigue doesn’t creep into
your operations.
From a legal perspective too, the new Chain of
Responsibility (CoR) laws play an important role
for all those working within the fleet space. The
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has
What follows is some general advice that you and
already commenced its first prosecution of a
drivers need to be aware of as you head into a
Victorian heavy vehicle operator over safety failures busy and demanding 2020. Remember being tired
relating to driver fatigue.
is as bad as being drunk behind the wheel – never
NHVR executive director Statutory Compliance
take risks while working in the mobile office.
Ray Hassall says NHVR investigators conducted a
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ISSUE 21 2020 / WWW.AFMA.ORG.AU