Nearly one in five drivers of heavy goods vehicles has fallen asleep at the wheel, according to the findings of a study presented to the 2004 Environmental Health Conference in Dublin yesterday.
The paper, Assessing the Occupational Health & Safety of HGV Drivers and the Risk of Sleep Deprivation, found that HGV drivers are put at risk of being involved in an accident as a result of their work/sleep patterns and behaviour.
In all, 239 HGV drivers in Northern Ireland were interviewed for the survey, which was conducted over a four-month period.
Their average age was 37.8 years and average driving experience 15.9 years. They worked over 38 hours per week.
It found that driver fatigue is a major principal and contributing factor of road traffic collisions, accounting for 20 per cent of serious collisions on roads. HGV drivers are more prone to sleep-related collisions, as they are at risk of accident involvement due to the nature of their jobs, with long hours, monotonous roads, high mileage and difficult weather conditions.
The survey found that over half of the drivers are not getting their eight hours of recommended sleep, with 52 per cent sleeping seven hours or less, one in four regularly feeling fatigued on wakening, and 49 per cent experiencing disruptive nightly sleep.
Some 84 per cent admitted sometimes being drowsy at the wheel.
The study claims each fatality costs society €1.8 million.