Driver Fatigue is a Major Contributor to Global Vehicle Deaths, Injuries and Crashes

Fatigue-related crashes are fully preventable when we understand the effects and impacts of fatigue on the safety of fleet drivers and take actions to mitigate this driver risk.

Who is this guide for?

NETS developed this guide for safety professionals responsible for managing light, medium or heavy vehicle fleets who seek to: 1) understand how fatigue impacts the safety of workers who drive as part of their job, and 2) reduce the risk of crashes and injuries resulting from fatigued driving among their drivers.

The contents of this guide are based on current knowledge about fatigue, fatigue risk management principles, and the experiences of NETS members.

An atmosphere of “just culture”

Just culture is a concept that considers errors to be largely the result of a faulty organizational culture and rarely solely the fault of the employee. This guide approaches driver fatigue management from a just culture perspective, but also acknowledges that employers and employees share responsibility for preventing driver fatigue.

Materials

• Guide
  • Managing Fatigue for the Fleet Safety Professional
• Fact Sheets
  • Why Fatigue Management? Key Takeaways
  • What Is Fatigue? Signs and Symptoms
  • What Places People at Risk for Fatigue?
  • Reduce Fatigue Through Better Nutrition
  • Why Does Sleep Matter?
  • Three Steps to Implement a Driver Fatigue Management Program
• Social Media Messaging
  • Best ways to prevent driver fatigue
  • When to talk to your health care provider
  • Prescription medications can make you drowsy
  • Common work-based fatigue risk factors
  • Drowsy driving crashes most common between midnight and 6 a.m.
  • How to regain alertness if you get sleepy and cannot stop driving

References

1. Global status report on road safety 2018: Summary (who.int)
2. Motor Vehicle Crash Facts | NIOSH | CDC, 2021
3. AAA, 2014
4. Marcus and Rosekind, 2017
5. Sprajcer et al., 2022
6. Dawson and Reid, 1997
7. NIOSH
8. Sadeghniiat-Haghighi and Yazdi 2015
9. Caldwell, 2019
10. Driver Fatigue | NIOSH | CDC
11. Hafner, 2017
12. Dembe et al., 2005
13. Barger et al., 2005
14. How Much Sleep Do We Really Need? | Sleep Foundation
15. Lim and Dinges, 2010
16. Benjafield et al., 2019
17. Simonelli, 2018
18. Moore-Ede 2009, Caldwell 2019
19. Sprajcer et al., 2022
20. Vivoda, et al. 2019
21. Kolosh, 2021
22. Marcus and Rosekind, 2017
23. Wong et al., 2019
24. Folkard and Tucker, 2003
25. Miller, 2006
26. Ritonja et al., 2019
27. Samn and Perreli, 1982
28. How to Create a Workplace Culture That Values Sleep | Calm for Business
29. VeryWellMind, 2022
30. Cicchino, 2017
31. IIHS, 2017
32. Cicchino, 2019
33. Ahlstrom, 2021
34. Mollicone et al., 2019
35. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/fatigue/pdf/FMDT-Infographic-Jan2022.pdf
36. Price and Coury, 2015
37. Akerstedt et al. 1989, Rosekind et al. 1995

Other Resources

• https://sleepisgoodmedicine.com/
• Fatigued driving GIF: https://go.usa.gov/xnQ6S (cdc.gov)
• How to Choose the Right Fatigue Detection Technology for Your Workplace (cdc.gov)

Complete Toolkits

• North American Fatigue Management Program (nafmp.org)
• Fatigue Risk Management Toolkit – National Safety Council (nsc.org)
• Managing fatigue in the workplace – IOGP

Disclaimer

Any reference in this guide to a specific commercial product or service or corporation name does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by NETS.