Climate conditions and work-related fatigue among professional drivers

Abstract

The possible associations between climate parameters and drivers' fatigue have not been subject to specific studies thus far. We have undertaken a study to investigate whether the particular climate parameters are related to fatigue perception by motor vehicle drivers. The study was performed from July to October. Each driver was surveyed four times: before and after workshift on a monotonous route outside the city center (MR), and on a heavy traffic route in the city center (HTR). The study was conducted among 45 city bus drivers aged 31-58 years (43.7 ± 7.9), seniority as driver 3-34 years (14.7 ± 8.6). Data on climate conditions (ambient temperature, air pressure, humidity, wind speed, precipitations) on particular study days was obtained from the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, National Research Institute Warsaw, Poland. Fatigue was assessed using the Fatigue Assessment Questionnaire, developed at Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine (Lodz, Poland). The total level of fatigue was significantly (p = 0.045) higher after driving on HTR than on MR. The number of symptoms was also significantly higher (p < 0.05) among drivers working on HTR. After MR, significant correlations were found between wind speed and heavy eyelid feeling, being prone to forgetting, eye strain, frequent blinking, and between ambient temperature and feeling thirsty. After HTR feeling thirsty, tiredness and difficulty in making decisions correlated with ambient temperature and feeling thirsty with wind speed. Climate conditions can modify the drivers fatigue; therefore, we should be aware of their impact on well-being.

A Review of Thermal Comfort Applied in Bus Cabin Environments

“…Makowiec-Dabrowska et al [18] in a field study carried out in Poland, investigated whether climatic parameters (temperature, air pressure, humidity, wind speed, and precipitation) are related to the perception of fatigue by bus drivers in two situations (monotonous route and heavy traffic). As a result, the authors inferred that the route of intense traffic results in more fatigue more than the monotonous route.…”

“…Thermal sensation [5,9-11,13,14,18,31,46- According to Table 7, most thermal comfort studies in bus cabin environments focused on the thermal sensation aspect. Of the 16 research papers directed at the most investigated aspect, 12 analyzed only the passenger cabins [5,[9][10][11]13,14,31,[46][47][48]53,55], two observed only the drivers [18], one focused on passengers and drivers [49], and two sampled drivers and ticket collectors [50,52].…”

“…In fact, the impact generated by studies of this knowledge area in bus cabin environments affects not only passengers, but it also may be correlated with drivers through the approaches of studies on the well-being/health and productivity of these workers and the fuel/energy economy of this means of transportation [15][16][17][18][19].…”

Relationship between truck driver fatigue and rear-end collision risk

“…In the present study, the collision risk indicator was used in relationship analysis of objective parameters of fatigue, however, the use of the algorithm is not limited to this example. Collision risk is known to be related not only to fatigue, but also to driver skills and driving conditions, such as the weather [37,42]. The collision risk indicator can also be employed in the analysis of other related factors.…”

Fatores Associados à Síndrome de Burnout em Motoristas de Transporte Coletivo de Passageiros

“…Quanto aos estressores relacionados às condições externas, destacam-se: o trânsito lento devido aos congestionamentos (Mattos, Moraes, & Pereira, 2015;Silva & Zavarize, 2017;Zanelato & Oliveira, 2008); lidar com motoristas de carro de passeio que não respeitam o código de trânsito brasileiro (Almeida, 2007;Mattos, Moraes, & Pereira, 2015); motoqueiros que, muitas vezes, "cortam" a frente dos ônibus e buzinam de maneira inadequada (Silva & Zavarize, 2017;Zanelato & Oliveira, 2003); ciclistas que não respeitam as normas de trânsito (Silva & Zavarize, 2017) e pedestres que não respeitam a faixa de segurança e demais sinalizações (Nóbrega, 2015;Silva & Zavarize, 2017); condições climáticas (calor na cabine, fortes chuvas, alagamento das vias) (Makowiec-Dąbrowska et al, 2019;Zanelato & Oliveira, 2004); dirigir em más condições das vias devido aos buracos e sinalização deficiente (Battiston et al, 2006;Nóbrega, 2015;Silva & Zavarize, 2017); e, risco de acidentes (Nóbrega, 2015;Tavares, 2010;Zanelato & Oliveira, 2003).…”