Work and sleep among transport operators: Disparities and implications for safety

Publication date: Available online 1 September 2017 Source:Journal of Transport & Health Author(s): Michael K. Lemke, Adam Hege, Yorghos Apostolopoulos, Laurie Wideman, Sevil Sönmez The transportation and warehousing sector employs nearly 5 million individuals, many of whom are transport operators. Transport operators have experienced changes in work organization in recent decades; however, little is known about the impacts of these changes and how these impacts differ between operator types. Therefore, using two directly comparable transport operator datasets – one of all transport operator types by the National Sleep Foundation, and another of exclusively long-haul truck drivers called the Trucker Sleep Disorders Survey (TSLDS) – we sought for the first time to evaluate disparities between transport operators’ work organization; sleep characteristics; sleep problems and sleep disorders; and safety outcomes. We also explored associations between work organization and sleep characteristics, problems, and disorders with safety outcomes. Many significant differences were found across transport operator sectors. In particular, the TSLDS long-haul truck drivers largely fared worse when compared to other transport operators across a number of characteristics, including shift length, shift work, sleep latency, and the number of safety outcomes due to sleepiness. These cross-sectoral differences suggest the need for tailored interventions to address the unique ...
Source: Journal of Transport and Health - Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research