Safety and health of professional drivers who drive on Brazilian highways

Abstract

Traffic accidents and resulting injuries and deaths have become a global epidemic. In Brazil, most professional drivers, especially truck drivers, face irregular working hours and can be awake for more than 18 hours/day, which reduces their performance and alertness. In this article, we discuss the laws related to Brazilian professional drivers and their current amendments (No. 12,619/2012 and No. 13,103/2015) in relation to working hours at the wheel and rest breaks, which are vital for the quality of life of drivers and society in general. We note that the new law appears to be less efficient than the previous one as it causes insecurity and concern to the users of the transportation system, drivers, and employers. To restrict and reduce accidents, deaths, and injuries in traffic, appropriate legislation is essential, aiming at the safety of workers and users of highways. The law must also benefit the commercial aspect, strengthening the reduction in production and logistics losses. Additionally, traffic education programs are needed, as well as better supervision in relation to total working hours.

Psychosocial Work Factors, Job Stress and Strain at the Wheel: Validation of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) in Professional Drivers

“…In short, health outcomes of professional drivers working under highly demanding conditions can be summarized in terms of both physical and mental illnesses, such as: ergonomic complications associated with physical working conditions (Abledu et al, 2014; Jadhav, 2016; Useche et al, 2018), hypertension (Hirata et al, 2012; Djindjić et al, 2013; Platek et al, 2017), respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders (Ekpenyong et al, 2012; Ronchese and Bovenzi, 2012), eye problems (Murray et al, 2017), lung cancer related to the prolonged exposition to contaminant and toxic gasses (Zuskin et al, 1994; Tsoi and Tse, 2012), metabolic syndrome (Lemke et al, 2017; Hege et al, 2019), sleep problems and chronic fatigue (Sabbagh-Ehrlich et al, 2005; Braeckman et al, 2011; Tellez López et al, 2015; Useche et al, 2017; Garbarino et al, 2018), psychological distress and several mental health disturbances such as anxiety, and depressive disorders (Narciso and Mello, 2017; Unsworth et al, 2017; Davidson et al, 2018). Other applied researches, such as the one performed by Taylor and Dorn (2006), Tse et al (2006), Chung and Wong (2011), Useche et al (2018, 2019) and Pérez-Fuentes et al (2019) have related adverse working conditions, workplace stress and burnout of various occupational groups to both adverse psychological health indicators (such as the psychological distress measured by the short form of Goldberg’s GHQ-12) and negative lifestyle outcomes.…”

Factors Associated with Common Mental Disorders in Truck Drivers

“…Changes in Law 13.103/2015 regarding working hours of these workers is required. The workload approved by law (12h) does not guarantee the safety conditions of these workers (Narciso & Mello, 2017), and in the present study, the working day was the most relevant predictor of the CMD. Inspection and intervention in the transport sector in relation to working hours is a way to preserve the occupational health of this worker.…”

“…The daily working day of the truck driver authorized by law 13.103 is up to 12 working hours. This workload can cause increased fatigue and accident risk, there is also an exponential increase in accident risk from 12 hours on (Narciso & Mello, 2017). In the present study, professionals who work more than 12 hours have a 3.33 times greater chance of having CMD; and among those who consider the workday a stressor, the chance is 5.41.…”

A Portable Fuzzy Driver Drowsiness Estimation System

“…Driver fatigue and drowsiness constitute one of the leading causes of traffic accidents, being involved in 9.5% of crashes in the US [ 1 ] and 6% of fatal accidents in Brazil [ 2 ]. To alleviate these figures, authorities, research groups, and automobile manufacturers have concentrated their efforts on developing awareness campaigns, promoting the implementation and use of rest stops, and developing automatic devices that assist drivers by detecting fatigue or drowsiness [ 3 ].…”