Institute for Transport Studies FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

Shiftwork and Driver Fatigue

Yvonne Taylor, Dr Natasha Merat, Dr Samantha Jamson

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Background

•  More than 3.5 million shift workers in the UK (Richbell and Chan, 2011)

•  Fatigue causes serious and fatal collisions and ‘near miss’ incidents

•  Sleepiness peaks are generally around 0300-0500 and 1400-1600 (Increases in fatigue related road traffic collisions between these times) (Horrocks and Pounder, 2006)

•  Fatigue accounts for up to 20% of serious collisions on motorways and monotonous roads in Great Britain (Horne and Reyner, 1995)

•  Education / awareness is of primary importance •  Various countermeasures used by drivers (most only effective for short

periods, if at all) (Horne and Reyner, 1999)

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Driving Performance Risks

Driver Performance

Risks

Increased Risk

Fatigue-related

Countermeasures / mitigation attempts

Work Pressures

Lifestyle Factors

Driver Fatigue

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My Police Study

•  4 Police Forces in Yorkshire and

the Humber Region

•  Over 500 responses, 492 fully completed

•  77.6% male, 22.4% female

•  Age range 22 to 61 years

(letour.yorkshire.com)

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Lifestyle

238

240

242

244

246

248

250

252

Yes No

Num

ber

Yes/No

Do you feel that you sleep well?

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Mode of Transport

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Walk Lift / Taxi Bus / Train Pedal Cycle Motorcycle Car Other

Num

ber

Mode of transport

How do you usually travel to / from work?

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Shifts

What shift causes the biggest problem with driver fatigue?

Earlies

Lates

Nights

Other

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Driving incidents Reported

•  In the 12 months preceding the study, 5.8% stated they had been involved in a collision or road departure on the way to or from work

•  51.9% stated they had been involved in a ‘near miss’ such as a kerb strike, lane departure or almost had a collision

•  95.7% of these incidents happened on the way home from work

•  61.8% had been working a nightshift prior to the incident

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Future Study

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

RD RD RD RD 0700-1600

0700-1600

1400-0000

1400-0000

2200-0700

2200-0700

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Shift Pattern

Actigraphy

Date Sleep Start Time

Sleep End Time

Time in Bed

Sleep Efficiency

09-06-14 22:05 06:45 8hr 40 90 09-06-14

16:50 17:45 0hr 55 90

10-06-14

22:20 06:45 8hr 25 91

10-06-14

14:55 18:25 3hr 30 85

11-06-14

23:20 06:55 7hr 35 89

12-06-14

23:05 05:55 6hr 50 91

13-06-14

22:20 08:35 10hr 15 82

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Joggle Research

•  Scientifically recognised cognitive tests

•  Easily portable, tablet based

•  Easy to access, store and retrieve cloud based data

•  Simple to set up and run

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Thank You

Any questions?

Yvonne Taylor

tsyt@leeds.ac.uk

its.leeds.ac.uk

(weirdnutdaily.com)

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