Driver Fatigue Risk Assessment Guide

What is a Driver Fatigue Assessment?

A Driver Fatigue Assessment enables you to assess a driver’s well-being and fatigue levels before they get behind the wheel. Studies have shown that a fatigued driver is 3x more likely to get into a car crash and being awake for 17hrs is the equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.05%. This is why it is essential to assess fatigue levels to prevent potential accidents. A Driver Fatigue Assessment can come in many forms. Your paper-based options often consist of a list of questions regarding their recent sleep patterns and how they are currently feeling. More advanced options use cognitive response tests to ensure results are accurate and reliable.

When to use a Driver Fatigue Assessment

The Driver Fatigue Assessment should be used in multiple scenarios. Use cases include operating heavy machinery, travelling to different locations throughout the day, long commutes to remote worksites and most importantly, when a worker is driving back home after a long day or week of work.

“The last drive” is a common term for those drive-in, drive-out workers where they’re just so close to getting home, the temptation of driving after a full week's work can sometimes be given into. But in this scenario, it is incredibly likely that the worker would be driving fatigued.

We recommend having your drivers complete the risk assessment before commencing any travel so that users understand the risks involved, unnecessary travel can be avoided, and any actions can be taken to mitigate existing risks.

How to use a Driver FatigueAssessment

Users can print the form and fill by hand, then following the risk matrix at the end of the document, calculate the risk score by adding up the answers. If the results indicate low risk, the planned travel can go on ahead without review. However if medium-high risk, we suggested that a supervisor reviews the results and makes considerations such as:

• Could fatigue mitigation strategies fix these issues?
• Are there multiple workers who could drive together?

FAQs

What factors contribute to driver fatigue?

Several factors can contribute to driver fatigue, including inadequate sleep or rest breaks, long working hours, monotonous driving conditions, sleep disorders, medications, alcohol or drug use, and demanding schedules or deadlines.

What are the signs and symptoms of driver fatigue?

Signs of driver fatigue can include excessive yawning, frequent blinking or heavy eyelids, difficulty focusing or keeping eyes open, drifting between lanes, slower reaction times, missing exits or road signs, irritability, and increased difficulty in remembering the past few miles driven.

What can be done to prevent or manage driver fatigue?

Preventing and managing driver fatigue involves various strategies, such as promoting adequate sleep and rest breaks, implementing work-hour limits, providing driver education and training on fatigue awareness, encouraging healthy lifestyle habits, using technology (e.g., fatigue monitoring systems), and fostering a supportive organizational culture.

Are there legal requirements or regulations related to driver fatigue?

Yes, many jurisdictions have specific regulations and guidelines regarding driver fatigue management. These may include limitations on driving hours, mandatory rest periods, and requirements for record-keeping or fatigue management plans. It is important to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

Accurate and reliable fatigue management based on individual performance

Why use SafetyIQ?

SafetyIQ’s Fatigue Management Module includes a game-like cognitive performance quiz that ensures your workers are alert enough to work safely. Unlike other fatigue management solutions, ours measures all forms of alertness including lack of sleep, stress, drug impairment and mental health. The assessment is scientifically validated and based on NASA’s psychomotor vigilance test. Find out more.

How do we do this?

The 90-second assessment can be completed from any mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop and should be completed at the start of a shift, or before undertaking a high-risk activity (e.g. driving, or operating heavy machinery).

Once the user has completed 10 assessments, the system develops a rolling baseline that understands their average performance. These parameters are fully unique to the individual, based on speed and accuracy. This means results are objective, the test can’t be cheated and it can detect improved performance, adjusting the rolling baseline accordingly.

If a person scores outside their normal range, a manager is notified to have a conversation to make sure they’re okay to work. This solution highlights at-risk workers and allows you to start conversations that could truly save their lives.