Experts Focus on Transportation Operator Fatigue
National and international leaders in research, transportation management, and labor, as well as regulators and program evaluators from all modes of transportation convened in Boston to participate in a highly successful conference on fatigue management in transportation operations. The March 24-26 conference was sponsored by the U.S. DOT Human Factors Coordinating Committee (HFCC).
- 220,000 people fall asleep behind the wheel each day (even if for just a second or two) -Harvard University Division of Sleep Medicine
- Over 100,000 police-reported crashes and more than 1,550 fatalities occur each year due to drowsy driving –National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Of the reports in the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), 21 percent were related to general issues of fatigue —Federal Aviation Administration
The 2009 International Conference on Worker Fatigue Management in Transportation Operations focused on disseminating information on the latest fatigue-related research, technology, and countermeasures, and facilitating the use of this information, and evaluation methods needed, for achieving better fatigue management in transportation.
Michael Coplen, HFCC Chair and Director of Culture and Safety Performance Studies at the Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Railroad Development and Dr. Stephen Popkin, Volpe Center Director of Human Factors Research and System Applications COI and Executive Agent to the HFCC led efforts to convene experts from around the world to address this critical topic. The U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Harvard University Medical School also collaborated on conference planning and execution.
"Human fatigue is a risk factor that is avoidable," said keynote speaker Deborah A. P. Hersman, NTSB Member. "Yet, this risk factor continues to affect our pilots, drivers, train crews, mariners, and pipeline controllers." Human fatigue has been on the NTSB's Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements since the list's inception in 1990.
The honorable Richard Moore, Massachusetts State Senator, provided his views on the legislative role in addressing operator fatigue management, and has recently introduced legislation related to drowsy driving geared toward reducing the incidents of accidents related to drowsy driving within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's new National Occupational Research Agenda related to transportation and fatigue issues was presented by Audrey Reichard. Marvin Dainoff presented the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety's strategic roadmap for transportation fatigue management research.
In addition to the research and demonstration activities carried out by the U.S. DOT's operating administrations, HFCC, a representative body within the U.S. DOT that addresses multimodal issues, has focused on the topic of operator fatigue, initiating its Operator Fatigue Management program nearly a decade ago. HFCC has sponsored the development of fatigue management tools that are now freely available to the transportation industry and related organizations.
Massachusetts State Senator Richard Moore is flanked by conference co-planners Mike Coplen of FRA and Stephen Popkin of the Volpe Center. (Volpe Center photo)
