BackgroundWorkers in the road transport industry, and particularly truck drivers, are at increased risk of chronic diseases. Innovative health promotion strategies involving technologies such as social media may engage this “hard-to-reach” group. There is a paucity of evidence for the efficacy of social media technologies for health promotion in the Australian transport industry.ObjectiveThis study analyzed qualitative data from interviews and focus group discussions to evaluate a social media health promotion intervention, the Truckin’ Healthy Facebook webpage, in selected Australian transport industry workplaces.MethodsWe engaged 5 workplace managers and 30 truck drivers from 6 transport industry organizations in developing workplace health promotion strategies, including a social media intervention, within a Participatory Action Research approach. Mixed methods, including a pre- and postintervention manager survey, truck driver survey, key informant semistructured interviews, truck driver focus groups, and focused observation, were used to evaluate the social media intervention. We asked questions about workplace managers’ and truck drivers’ opinions, engagement, and satisfaction with the intervention. This paper focuses on qualitative data.ResultsOf the workplace managers who reported implementing the social media intervention at their workplace, all (3/3, 100%) reported satisfaction with the intervention and expressed a keen interest in learning more about social media and how it may be used for workplace health promotion and other purposes. Truck drivers were poorly engaged with the intervention because (1) many believed they were the “wrong age” and lacked the necessary skills; (2) the cost of smartphone technology was prohibitive; (3) they confined their use of social media to nonwork-related purposes; and (4) many workplaces had “no Facebook” policies.ConclusionsThe use of social media as a health promotion intervention in transport industry workplaces has potential. Workplace interventions using social media can benefit from a Participatory Action Research approach. Involving managers and workers in the design of social media health promotion interventions and developing strategies to support and deliver the interventions helps to facilitate their success. The workers’ profile, including their age and familiarity with social media, and work, workplace, and family context is important to consider in this process. Much more research needs to be undertaken to better understand the effective use of social media to engage “hard-to-reach” groups.

The issues of long working hours, fatigue, turnover and job satisfaction are not new to the management of workers. However, FIFO workforces appear to be at an increased risk physically and mentally due to a culmination of other influences, such as extended and frequent periods of absence from friends and families which contribute to feelings of isolation and lowered psychological wellbeing. FIFO workers and their families, engage in a unique lifestyle, rarely are other workers subjected to long hours and compressed work weeks while separated or isolated from their families for extended periods of time. Recently, FIFO interest has shifted to understanding the influences on employee engagement, satisfaction, retention and safety. Considering the management of FIFO workforces from a holistic perspective incorporating all of the issues impacting on these workers may assist to ensure the challenges associated with FIFO employment are understood, addressed and communicated to workers and their families is crucial for safety and health.

Workplaces are challenging environments which place workers at risk of obesity. This is particularly true for Australian road transport industry workplaces. The Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) Framework is a public health tool which can be used to conceptualise obesogenic environments. It suggests workplaces have a variety of roles (in the physical, economic, political and sociocultural domains) in responding to obesity in transport industry workplaces. This paper presents findings which explore this idea. Methodology: The project used a mixed-methods approach located within a Participatory Action Research (PAR) framework, to engage workplace managers and truck drivers in the implementation and evaluation of workplace health promotion strategies. The project involved 6 transport industry workplaces in Queensland, Australia. Findings: This study found transport industry workplaces perceive themselves to have an important role in addressing the physical, economic, political and sociocultural aspects of obesity, as per the ANGELO Framework. However, transport industry employees-specifically, truck drivers-do not perceive workplaces to have a major role in health; rather, they consider health to be an area of personal responsibility. Practical implications: Balancing the competing perceptions of truck drivers and workplace managers about the workplace's role in health promotion is an important consideration for future health promotion activities in this hard-to-reach, at-risk population. Originality / Value: The use of the ANGELO framework allows the conceptualisation of obesity in a novel workplace context.

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is involved in a variety of research and consultancies in areas such as work related road safety, motorcycle safety, and international road safety and community capacity building.In the organisational psychology domain Dr Wishart's research and consultancy work has primarily focussed on projects involving industry and safety from a systemic approach along with creating behaviour change. He is the Chair of the Occupational Safety in Transport Conference Organising Committee and the Queensland Chapter Chair of the Australasian Fleet

This study aimed to identify the typologies of drug users and examine how they differed in drug-driving tendencies. A sample of drug users (N = 52) from Queensland, Australia, completed a telephone interview. Thematic analyses identified three unique user types: (a) sporadic recreational users, who used a variety of drugs and drug drove depending on situational variables; (b) frequent recreational users, who favoured cannabis and methamphetamine, and did not typically regulate their driving; and (c) frequent medicinal users, who used cannabis for a medical condition and were more responsible in regulating both their use and driving. While frequent recreational users may drug drive more often, sporadic users (who are proportionally larger in size) may be more at risk due to a low tolerance and an increased likelihood of poly-substance use. The findings of this study may inform the development of tailored police interventions but also inform current policy discussions.

This study examined how illicit drug users perceived roadside drug testing (RDT) in Queensland, a jurisdiction that enforces a zero-tolerance enforcement strategy to drug driving. Fifty-two illicit drug users were interviewed, and thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes. The results showed that exposure to RDT and apprehension certainty were reportedly low. The targeted regime of RDT had dichotomous implications towards apprehension certainty, due to the familiarity with the testing procedures. Participants also reported mixed experiences with testing accuracy, in that some offenders reported testing negative just following use, while others who reportedly regulated their driving tested positive, despite not having recently used. Next, participants reported engaging in punishment avoidance behaviours that aimed to evade police exposure and suspicion, and to mask the presence of drugs in their saliva. The combination of avoidance behaviours and perceptions of one’s ability to circumnavigate RDT impacted on participants’ apprehension certainty. Due to their experiences, the majority of (cannabis) users agreed that RDT approaches were discriminatory and unjust, due to the zero-tolerance policy, the testing of presence over impairment, and the lack of policing towards other drugs. These perceived limitations were noted to potentially increase user offending in some circumstances and suggested that there may be a dissonance between the intended aim of RDT and the outcome on drug user behaviours. The findings of this study may hold implications for future research in identifying limitations in the current evidence and help inform policing procedures and policy surrounding future drug testing approaches.

Background: Workers in the road transport industry, and particularly truck drivers, are at increased risk of chronic disease. Innovative health promotion strategies involving technologies such as social media may engage this 'hard-to-reach' group. There is a paucity of evidence for the efficacy of social media and related technologies for health promotion in the Australian transport industry.