Driving: A Cause for Concern?? - The Hidden Dangers

Most, if not all, Safety Reps in the Region will be aware of the ongoing HSE and the Northern TUC coordinated ‘Backs 2005’campaign to improve the health and safety of all workers particularly in regard back injury and associated injuries.
Therefore the report below, compiled by a member of the Northern TUC Health & Safety Forum Working Party arrived in my email tray at a very opportune time highlighting an area of concern that does not seem to have been addressed in this way before.

George Partridge Chair Northern TUC Health & Safety Forum.


We are all aware of the substantial advances in safety that have been developed to help reduce the risks of injury or fatalities when driving, such as Seatbelts, Airbags, Abs Brakes, etc. However there are number of hidden dangers that professional drivers face on a daily basis, these are Musculoskeletal Disorders, Wruld’s, & Possibly Dvt’s.

Having worked in the Public Transport Industry for over 17 Years I have seen a lot of changes within the Industry. New Technology means that Buses are able to be designed to be faster, smoother and more Passenger friendly allowing access for wheelchairs and Prams, however when it comes to cab design it seems that it is almost an after thought and last on the list for overall improvement of the vehicle.

On average Drivers spend in excess of 8 hours in the driving seat per day. This means that there is significant pressure placed on their joints and spine arising from working in a cramped position and from twisting their backs and shoulders.

Also poorly maintained roads and potholes lead to shocks sent up into their hips and spines.

Part of the problem is the fact that large companies buy their Buses in large orders and do not actually take on board the suggestions on the layout and design of the cabs from the people who actually drive them.

This means that by the time the drivers get to drive them in service the cab has already been fitted out and this invariably means the layout is disorganised and cramped and not ‘user friendly’ with poorly placed ticket machines and dispenser trays that force the Driver to twist round to use and also blind spots from security screens that mean that they must stretch or twist just to see around them.

And of course there is also the pedal layout, switches and the many other controls that are contained within the cab area.

Or to put it another way fitting the driver to their workstation and not the workstation to the driver, which as everyone knows is ‘best practice’ in health safety & welfare.

It is inconceivable to me that any Organisation fails to take on board suggestions on cab design from the very staff that will be using these vehicles when it is obvious that if they did so this would inevitably mean that the layout of the cab would be of a better design with the ‘knock on’ effect helping to reduce the amount of time that staff had to take off on the sick and also any injury claims they may face leading to a reduction in the Organisations sickness levels, leading to a more cost effective workforce and a raising of staff morale leading to a happier workforce and the ‘knock on’ effect of an overall increase in customer satisfaction.

As part of my final assignment for my TUC Certificate in Occupational Health & Safety I looked at the problems that my members faced whilst Driving and I was unable to find a Body Map that showed a person in a Driving position, I decided to design my own Body Map that Drivers and people working in the Transport Industry could relate to and use to identify any problems within their Organisation.

This Body Map is only one element designed to help identify how many members are suffering from the above mentioned problems and to help identify the action needed by senior managers to reduce the risks.

It is clear that there is a great amount of work needed to be done before these risks are reduced but hopefully this Body Map will go some way towards reducing these risks.

The body map can also be used by all professional drivers, HGV, Driving Instructors in fact anyone who spends a large proportion of their working day behind the wheel of a vehicle.

You have to question the wisdom of having a set of health & safety regulations, quite rightly, for workers, that includes the layout of their workstation, seat design, and a number of other aids for their health & safety and wellbeing, entitled the DSE Regs, but not a set of regulations for a PSV driver’s workstation, namely the drivers cab.

Please feel free to utilise/adapt the Body Map in any way you wish all we ask is that you identify the source.

Best of luck and Good Mapping

The Body Mapping tool can be downloaded here: Body Map

The Interactive Body Mapping tool can be downloaded here: Body Map Interactive 66.7KB, just place the cursor on the appropriate coloured square then click and it will place either a tick for constant or a star for occasional.

From a member of the Northern TUC Health & Safety Forum