Coach and bus operators should have the awareness to intervene earlier in monitoring driver health and that of other employees, GP and barrister Dr Grant Charlesworth-Charles told industry members in the Masterclass Theatre at Euro Bus Expo.
“I’m seeing more drivers failing their medical earlier,” says the founder of D4Drivers, which is the UK’s largest provider of driver health assessments.
“The two most common reasons are blood pressure and eyesight. We insist on daily walk-round checks on vehicles, but a driver can go for 20 years without a medical or health check,” continues Dr Charlesworth-Jones.
“We have been undertaking research into driver health with Loughborough University. We found that the post-COVID-19 landscape is very different from what it was before. Obesity underpins most illness. The combination of medical and mental health means that there’s more expectation on companies to look after drivers. It’s the best investment a company can make.”
The Association of Trainers (ASOT) Chief Executive Ross Lockett indicates that since 2019, the band between those operators who take driver health seriously and those that don’t has widened considerably.
“In the past, most operators were on a similar level in how they approached the issue,” he says. “But that has now changed. From my perspective, the costs associated with just one accident a year could probably pay for providing health and wellbeing support for the whole team.”
Women in Transport Interim Chief Executive Dal Kalirai notes that National Express is one operator that takes the health of its drivers seriously. She says that the company had introduced flexible shift patterns to enable staff to enjoy a positive work-life balance.
“If drivers are thinking about issues at home, that’s going to affect their driving,” she adds. “From a Women in Transport perspective, this industry is only 26% female. If we are going to make the industry more attractive to women, it’s vitally important to monitor health and wellbeing of all staff, never mind just drivers.”
