Driver stress and fatigue: tackling the hidden dangers

This feature was taken from our special Running a Safe Fleet report.

Whether it is using a handheld phone while behind the wheel, speeding or performing reckless manoeuvres, some road safety risks are obvious.

Mental health issues, however, are often hidden, but can be just as dangerous. Stress and fatigue, for example, increase the likelihood of errors as well as distract drivers from the road ahead.

While these issues are not exclusive to drivers, they do have particular relevance for those employees who drive as part of their job. They work in an unpredictable environment with outside pressures such as traffic and delivery deadlines disrupting the working day.

“The link between stress and distraction is a 
relatively neglected field,” says Lisa Dorn, 
associate professor of driver behaviour at Cranfield University and founder of PsyDrive, a company specialising in accredited training for road safety professionals, research, assessment and interventions for improved road safety.

“Stress causes your attention to be diverted away from your primary task – driving – and towards your concerns and worries,” she adds.

“That tends to inhibit your ability to make safe decisions, as well as your ability to control your behaviours.”

Studies have shown how, when people are stressed, they are more likely to drive on ‘autopilot’ because they are processing those emotions and not paying sufficient attention to the environment around them.

This means they are not spreading their visual search sufficiently widely, giving them a restricted field of view, making it less likely they will pick up on hazards in their periphery.

“People also have a tendency to have their 
attention captured by hazards so they sort of fixate for longer on things going on, rather than moving their eyes around their surroundings more rapidly,” adds Dorn.

Sources of stress

While stress can be caused by events on a driver’s journey, such as traffic jams, running late, bad weather condition or inconsiderate road users, it can also originate from situations not related to driving or work.

For example, a study in France in 2004 found the risk of being involved in an at-fault collision increased by four times for people going through a divorce.

The research also found that other life events associated with an increased risk of serious collisions were a child leaving home, an important purchase and hospitalisation of a partner.

Financial problems – particularly relevant at present due to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis – and looking after an ill or disabled relative are other potential sources of stress.

“Some people are very good at hiding the fact that they’re under a lot of stress,” says Dorn. “Often it’s only after a crash that you find out that people may be going through a divorce or have some significant health problem you were not aware of.

“As a fleet manager, it’s about making sure you have an open dialogue with drivers and that they know they are not going to be penalised for talking about the fact they need help.

“Some employee assistance programmes are very good because they provide counselling support for drivers to go and talk to somebody, and that really helps.”

RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of 
Accidents) recommends organisations ensure working regimes and tasks do not exert undue pressure on staff that is likely to cause or magnify stress.

Planned driving schedules

It also suggests driving schedules should be planned so they do not require staff to drive too far, for too long and without adequate rest breaks.

Ensuring drivers are consulted and included in decision-making, where possible, can also remove any stress caused by new policies or technologies they may be unfamiliar with or not understand.

Telent Technology Services has identified driver well-being as one of its priorities and has 
introduced a number of initiatives to monitor and improve this.

It invests in line management training to help aid the recognition and support of staff mental health issues and provides ‘how to’ advice guides to help encourage employees to be more self-aware.

There is also a support services helpline and website, e-learning materials and well-being 
webinars to help reduce the stigma around mental health.

“Well-being has always been a top priority within Telent,” says Miranda Faulconbridge, its head of driver safety.

“We’ve had an occupational health advisor with us for years. She’s a nurse, she supports people’s well-being, she’s somebody you can go to in confidence.”

Murphy Plant has nominated mental health organisation Calm (Campaign Against Living Miserably) as its charity and displays its stickers, which include a helpline number, in its vehicle cabs.

Mental health awareness courses have also been made available for all staff, and these begin with an introductory course leading up to becoming a mental health first aider.

These provide an insight into the issue, including what signs to look out for.

The company also has an employee assistance programme which offers help and support. Posters are also displayed in depots and mental health is included in toolbox talks.

You could be forgiven for thinking that all fleet managers are interested in these days is electric vehicles: how to transition, charging, reimbursements and so on. Such discussion dominates opinion pieces, media column inches, social media discussion and even webinars.

Yes, it’s a juicy topic. No, it’s not what most fleet decision-makers are spending all their time thinking about.

This report on running a safe fleet looks at how to create a safety culture and implement a driver behaviour programme, as well as tackle root causes of accidents, in discussion with fleet leaders and industry experts with the sole purpose of helping you to deliver a robust risk and compliance policy, protecting both your staff and your business.