The UK logistics sector keeps the nation moving, but it comes at a human cost with truck drivers facing an acute health and wellbeing crisis on British roads.
Long shifts, poor roadside infrastructure which leads to a poor diet and high-stress environments are causing a severe physical and mental decline across the workforce which was spelled out in detail at the recent Fit Drivers, Safe Fleets: The Business Case for Driver Health session at the Microlise Transport Conference.
Dr Grant Charlesworth-Jones, chairman of D4Drivers reviewed a sample of 500 driver medicals his company had carried out. Four drivers were sent directly to hospital while 8-10% failed their medical with high blood pressure. That meant 50 drivers had failed their medical and had to be stood down from driving duties, at a time when there is already a major shortage of professional drivers.
The one line that was delivered during the discussion that really hit home was ‘vehicle health is often better than driver health’ which isn’t how it should be. A 44-tonne vehicle has to be checked every day by law by its driver and inspected every six-eight weeks to ensure it is roadworthy.
Meanwhile, drivers have to have a medical examination for their initial licence application, but then a medical check is only required every five years between the ages of 45-65 and then performed annually after the age of 65 years. With younger drivers also suffering from poor health there is an argument that annual checks are an option to bring driver and vehicle health more into line with one another.
D4Drivers is partnering with Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, to undertake a study into driver health with early results showing that collision risk and productivity are all linked to driver health. Meanwhile, irregular shift patterns and noisy rest environments mean 51% of drivers struggle to sleep well inside their cabin, fuelling chronic fatigue which can be a further cause of accidents.
Loughborough’s Structured Health Intervention For Transport (SHIFT) is an innovative approach led by Professor Stacy Clemes to improving driver health and wellbeing, while also supporting road safety across the logistics sector.
It aims to significantly improve the health and wellbeing of truck drivers by addressing the unique challenges they face, such as long hours of sitting, limited physical activity, and poor dietary options. It introduces an innovative, evidence-based approach to tackle obesity, cardiovascular risks, and other health conditions associated with a sedentary lifestyle.
Companies are signing up to this initiative and there are plans to host a Driver Health Week in the first few days of September which we will look out for. It’s clear just from attending this 30-minute discussion that the UK supply chain cannot function safely without healthy drivers at the wheel of healthy trucks, whilst breaking the stigmas around physical and mental health as in the case of drivers these issues are inextricably linked.
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