FATIGUE IS TOP SAFETY ISSUE FOR TRUCK DRIVERS ON SA ROADS


“Driver fatigue is one of the greatest challenges faced by South Africa’s truck drivers. This is why we are so adamant that our drivers take regular breaks and get the necessary rest when they are on long trips,” says Arnoux Maré, CEO of Innovative Solutions Group TM and Managing Director of subsidiary, Innovative Staffing Solutions, which outsources its 7,500 full time employees to clients in the transport. mining, industrial and security industries. The business recently invested in a Renault Kerax truck to conduct truck driver training for its own and its clients’ drivers. “Not only does our on-site truck benefit our clients by significantly reducing downtime for their trucks, but it ensures all drivers are properly trained in safety regulations and provided with measures to guarantee their own and others’ safety on the roads,” adds Maré. While drivers should only work nine hours a day, six days a week, the Bargaining Council permits them to work a maximum of 30 hours overtime per week. This translates into five additional hours a day. “Drivers are meant to get the same breaks as any other employee. However, many of them work on a commission basis, which means they tend to push themselves to fit in additional hours. This is a catch-22 situation as the overtime can result in driver fatigue,” cautions Maré. He explains that Innovative Staffing Solutions clients all have control rooms with controllers, who each oversee about 40 trucks and their drivers. “Their role is to confirm routes with drivers as well as collection and drop-off points. They also communicate with drivers on a regular basis to check on their wellbeing and levels of fatigue. “In most instances, if a driver reports feeling fatigued, he or she is instructed to pull off the road when it is safe to do so, and to take a break. This does, however, depend on how many hours the driver has been on the road,” asserts Maré. Innovative Staffing Solutions compiles industry accident trends for all its clients. “We have noticed that accidents tend to follow a trend: after a period of relative safety when drivers may have become a little complacent, minor accidents start to occur such as knocking the side mirrors of their vehicles. The severity of accidents gradually escalates, becoming bumper bashings and eventually culminating in more serious accidents,” says Maré. The more serious accidents serve as a red flag to other drivers and the incidents taper off for a while. “Our strategy is to alert our clients when we become aware of an escalation in accidents so that management can step in and place renewed focus on safety. In addition, we manage our own pool of in-house drivers carefully to ensure safety is constantly top-of-mind,” adds Maré. To ensure even greater safety, wherever possible, Innovative Staffing Solutions provides staff accommodation – and transport from the depot to the accommodation – to allow drivers who have completed long hauls to rest and recuperate before their next trips. Maré says given the importance placed on safety, all Innovative Staffing Solutions clients have on-site driver trainers. “They are expected to provide ongoing training on the latest methodologies and to constantly instil the importance of safety regulations. These trainers will accompany drivers on trips on an ad-hoc basis to observe their driving and make sure they conform to safety and road regulations.” In addition, drivers are required to conduct pre-route checks of tyres, brakes, leaks and lights, amongst others. This is in addition to the truck having been through the truck depot for fuel top-ups, tyre checks, mechanical checks and washing. “There is little room for error when a 70-tonne machine has to stop in an emergency. Checking and re-checking is critical,” says Maré. Innovative Staffing Solutions believes its investment in the new truck is an important move. “It is aimed at assisting clients in training the drivers they might not be able to get to and providing another level of safety for drivers and, ultimately, all South African road users,” concludes Maré.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mines to gain control of yellow metal assets – aims to reduce fraud

SAMAR announces plans to cover entire life-cycle of all assets MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA – 25 May 2017 – The Southern African Movable Asset Register (SAMAR) today announces its plans that will allow mines, contractors, manufacturers, importers, builders, banks, insurers as well as the general public to control title and ownership of all movable assets, including yellow metal and other movable assets used during operations. In Africa, many yellow metal assets are crudely marked and registered to businesses. However, SAMAR creates the most recent reliable record of an asset and yellow metal by updating records in real-time as changes are made by various system participants. This allows businesses to effectively manage and control the financing of assets and yellow metal not on eNaTIS throughout their lifecycle. This greatly reduces fraud, theft, double discounting, or incorrect depiction for value and insurance purposes. Benefits for contractors • The value of movable assets and yello...
Read more

Reconditioning of components with Thermal Spray Coatings

Image
The application of Thermal Spray coatings by South Africa’s leading surface coating specialists, Thermaspray, can lead to an enhancement in performance and an extension of service life of expensive engineering parts and industrial components, leading to substantial reductions in downtime and production costs. Engineering components and parts in production processes are subject to degradation through wear, corrosion, oxidation and cavitation. Thermaspray, Managing Director, Dr. Jan Lourens, points out that as all these degradation processes are active on the surface of components, a suitably selected and correctly applied surface coating like Thermal Spray can effectively re-condition production equipment to ‘as new’. “In fact”, adds Dr. Lourens, “very often, through degradation analyses and the selection of a superior coating, a thermal spray coating makes it possible to provide virtually as good as new a component. Most importantly for the end user, this means substantial cost sav...
Read more

Creativity Saves Lives. Protect your people today, tomorrow and for the future

Image
MEDIA STATEMENT A strong Health and Safety culture improves productivity and assists in creating a safe and great place to work. The health and safety dialogue company ensures labour force, management, community and all stakeholders are aligned in creating and respecting a safe and healthy working environment. Through workshops and visual campaigns, we bring your Health and Safety Policy to life. Legislation is designed to protect human life and to enforce safety standards. However, OHS Acts are often complex and difficult to understand especially in areas with low literacy. It is essential as a business to ensure your labour force truly understand the associated risks within their working environment; culture goes beyond ticking training boxes. Has your organisation considered the importance of promoting a Health and Safety culture? Are you confident your employees are living and working in a safety conscious culture beyond paperwork and legislation? The vision of the health and...
Read more