Fatigue affects us all, and is a key safety challenge for heavy vehicle drivers and operators. The NHVR will be hosting webinars centred around fatigue choices today and Thursday as part of National Road Safety Week.
Experts tell us that if you’ve had less than five hours of sleep in the last 24 hours, it’s likely that you’re impaired by fatigue.
A lack of sleep can often lead to poor judgement, slower reaction times, errors, and micro-sleeps, and it’s the most common cause of crashes involving a single heavy vehicle.
NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto welcomed the increased conversation around fatigue with a focus on ensuring that there is collective focus on managing fatigue safety risks, rather than managing hours.
“It’s important we all do our bit when it comes to fatigue; this means as a driver ensuring you’ve had adequate sleep and are fit to drive and as an operator recognising signs of driver fatigue and ensuring drivers have the authority to stop when tired.
“At the NHVR, we are looking at ways we can improve the regulatory framework (including encouraging the use of Fatigue and Distraction Detection Technology) to improve fatigue safety outcomes.
“And for National Road Safety Week, we’ll be continuing our focus on fatigue and highlighting solutions for the future.
“You can get involved in what the NHVR is doing by keeping an eye on our social media channels, provide feedback to our team at a roadside information day, or join one of our fatigue webinars.
On Tuesday 17 November the NHVR will provide a Fatigue Choices webinar that will discuss how easy it is to work with the NHVR to access flexible fatigue arrangements. The Fatigue Choices program helps operators decide what flexibility is suitable for them and provides information on how to complete the process to access that flexibility.
Then on Thursday 19 November another webinar will provide insights into what’s next in fatigue management thinking over the next 5-10 years. This future focus will include capability uplift, flexibility, and technology uptake. It will discuss aligning Fatigue Risk Management into your Safety Management System, and will be of special interest to safety professionals, safety consultants and transport operators.
There is no cost to attend either webinar.
“Now more than ever we have new in-cab technologies that can help manage fatigue and we will be showcasing some of these during National Road Safety Week,” said Petroccitto.
“We’ll also be asking drivers to share their best tips on how they manage their fatigue and announcing the December focus of our on-road compliance team.
“Let’s talk fatigue and help saves lives this National Road Safety Week.”
Register for the NHVR fatigue webinars:
Fatigue Choices: Fatigue flexibility made easy
A must for all transport operators and owner drivers
When: Tuesday 17 November
Register: www.nhvr.gov.au/fatigue
What’s next in fatigue management?
A must for safety professionals, safety consultants, and transport operators
When: Thursday 19 November
Register: www.nhvr.gov.au/fatigue