The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is requesting public comment on the content and conduct of a nationally representative survey of truck drivers’ safety and health. The goal of the survey is to collect information on truck driver health, sleep disorders, fatigue, working conditions, and non-fatal injuries.

In response to needs cited by stakeholders for more detailed data on prevalence of health conditions and risk factors, working conditions, injury causes and outcomes, and health behaviors among truck drivers, a national survey of truck driver safety and health is being planned as part of the NIOSH transportation research program. This project will document occupational safety and health status of truck drivers. An estimated 1,594,980 U.S. workers were employed as heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in 2004. The 2004 fatality rate for U.S. heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was 48.2 per 100,000 workers, approximately 11 times the rate for the general worker population. In 2004, the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses estimated 63,570 non-fatal injuries among heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers – the second highest number among all occupations. Previous studies have shown truck drivers to be at increased risk for low-back pain; heart attack; hypertension; ulcers; cancers of the bladder, lung, prostate, and stomach; and premature mortality. Fatigue and sleep apnea among truck drivers have been shown to be associated with truck crashes and may contribute to stress and chronic disease. Increased risk of disease may be due to interactions between working conditions, health behaviors, and hazardous exposures.

The objective of this project is to develop and conduct a national survey to collect baseline data on the occupational safety and health of truck drivers. This objective will be achieved through five specific aims:

1. Design and pilot test a survey instrument that will provide self-reported data on working conditions, wellness, health behavior, injuries, fatigue, and sleep disorders among truck drivers
   
   
2. Conduct the survey at 40 truck stops across all major regions of the U.S.
   
   
3. Compile and analyze the survey results
   
   
4. Determine the prevalence of health conditions and risk factors; characterize working conditions, injury causes and outcomes, and health behaviors; and explore associations among health status, individual risk factors, and occupational exposures related to work organization and hours of service; and
   
   
5. Share results with stakeholders, the general public, and the scientific community.

The primary research questions to be explored are:

1. Is the prevalence of health conditions and sleep disorders greater in the truck driver population than in the general population?
   
   
2. How are drivers’ working conditions associated with health status and behaviors?
   
   
3. Are sleep disorders, fatigue, and the working environment contributors to poor health outcomes, highway crashes and injuries? and
   
   
4. What are the work tasks and environments in which truck drivers are injured?

Preliminary descriptions of content of questionnaires to be used are below.

Proposed Survey Questionniare - Components and Content	DRAFTSurveyQuest ionnaire091407.pdf (15KB; 2 pgs)
The free Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view these files.

A proposed sampling plan for the survey is linked below

Proposed Survey Plan	DRAFTproposalPl an091407.pdf (27KB; 1 pg)
The free Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view these files.

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics [2006]. Table A-5: Fatal occupational injuries by occupation and event or exposure, All United States, 2004. http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0200.pdf].

Bureau of Labor Statistics [2006]. Survey of Occupational Injury and Illness. Table R12. Number of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days away from work by occupation and selected events or exposures leading to injury or illness, 2004. http://stats.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/case/ostb1522.pdf]

Salzman GM and Belzer MH [2007]. Truck Driver Occupational Safety and Health: 2003 Conference Report and Selective Literature Review. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2007-120.

Matthews G, Desmond PA [1998]. Personality and multiple dimensions of task-induced fatigue: a study of simulated driving. Pers Indiv Differ 25: 443-458.

Stein KD, Martin SC, Hann DM, Jacobson PB [1998]. A multidimensional measure of fatigue for use in cancer patients. Cancer Pract 6: 143-152.

Shapiro CM, Devins GM, Flanigan M, Fleming JAE, Morehouse R, Moscovitch A, Plamondon J, Reinish L [2002]. Development of an adjective checklist to measure five FACES of fatigue and sleepiness: data from a national survey of insomniacs. J Psychosom Res 52: 467-73.

Comments will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. ET on January 2, 2008

To submit comments regarding these draft publications, please use one of these options:

• Send NIOSH comments using this online form
  
  
• Fax comments to the NIOSH Docket Office: 513-533-8285
  
  
• Send by Mail to:
  NIOSH Mailstop: C-34
  Robert A. Taft Lab.
  4676 Columbia Parkway
  Cincinnati, Ohio 45226
  

NIOSH Draft Documents for Public Review