Basic fatigue management guidelines for sleep
Whether you are an owner, driver or transport business, a fatigue management course is the best way to meet your Chain of Responsibility and Fatigue Management requirements. Basic fatigue management will equip you with useful information to help you both professionally and personally. As a professional driver, you will be at your best, most alert and safest when working during the morning, the late afternoon and the early evening. You will be at your worst performance level between 1am and 6 am when the body clock turns your body actions and alertness levels down.
Drivers who got less than 6 hours sleep in 24 hours experienced 4 times as many dangerous situations while they were driving. Getting enough quality sleep is essential to your safety; and you should aim to get 7 ½ continuous hours of sleep where possible.
Transport delivery schedules must take sleep breaks into account as part of. The trip plan or schedule must include adequate time for 7 hours sleep and time for the driver’s other essential activities.
If you are driving and getting little or no sleep at night, you are going to have to make up for it during the day. During the day, your body clock will turn your alertness up resulting in a poorer quality of sleep.
Try to get as much sleep as possible at night, and take another nap during the afternoon siesta period if necessary to improve your level of sleep.
Taking naps at every opportunity can helps to compensate for those nights when you don’t get enough sleep. Remember naps are not a substitute for 7 ½ hours of continuous sleep at night.
To get a good benefit from a nap you will need to achieve a period of 15 to 20 minutes duration. A longer nap period of 30 to 40 minutes is even better when possible. In some instances a 5 minute nap is of benefit although not really long enough.
SLEEP DEBT
If you get less than 7 ½ hours sleep each night you will build up a ‘sleep debt’. Each day you go with less than 7 ½ hours sleep, the more fatigued you will be and the more unsafe you will become on the highway.
Take every opportunity available on your days off to have a good long night of sleep. Before your next long trip ensure that you have fully repaid your “sleep debt” from the previous trip or trips.
SLEEP TIPS AT HOME
If you have trouble getting good quality sleep, here are some tips:
- Try to setup your bedroom at home or wherever you sleep to be as comfortable as possible, so that you can sleep better.
- Find the best room temperature to get to sleep. It is most likely to be between 18 and 22°C and can be achieved by an air conditioner.
- Turn down the volume of the ring tone on your phone or turn it off. Wear earplugs to reduce noise and ask the family to be extra quiet when you are sleeping.
- Hang extra thick curtains over the windows to reduce light coming into your room and wear eye shades or patches as another strategy.
There may be other things that you can do which is unique to your sleep patterns or sleeping environment. Online fatigue management courses are probably the best way to complete your fatigue management training.
Basic fatigue management training
Heavy vehicle drivers are the most affected by fatigue related cases. (more…)
Fatigue Management in Practice
Fatigue, if not properly managed, can lead to serious problems. Symptoms that result from fatigue include (more…)
Learning Fatigue Management
It has been noted that driver fatigue ranks among one of the leading concerns for road safety. This means that all drivers who are constantly driving trucks and other vehicles on major highways need one course or another to enable them learn how to manage fatigue while they are on the job.
This is the reason why there are online fatigue management schools from which drivers can take an appropriate and relevant fatigue management course. Under such a course, three main categories will be dealt with. These categories include standard hours, basic fatigue management and advanced fatigue management. It is important that drivers understand all categories since it is only then when they will effectively be equipped to deal with fatigue and reduce its adverse effects.
Truck drivers potentially become drowsy and discover that they have drifted into a micro- sleep. This is very risky since maximum attention is required on the road at all times even if there are no other vehicles apart from yours.
It is risks such as this that have made it important for truck drivers and other professionals who are constantly on the road to learn fatigue management. This is the only way they can be sure of themselves. The fatigue management courses they will undertake will enable them to get a better idea of how to reduce and eliminate altogether the risks of fatigue. Online fatigue management courses are often the easiest way to receive fatigue management training.
It is impossible to overstate the importance of any fatigue management course. This is the main reason why various legislations are now being passed to compel all truck drivers to take these courses. Needless to say, anyone would agree with such legislations since they will help to make our roads safer and to make the work environment more conducive and secure for truck drivers.
Learning to Manage Fatigue through Online Fatigue Management
It has been noted that driver fatigue ranks among one of the leading concerns for road safety. This means that all drivers who are constantly engaged in driving trucks and other vehicles on major highways need one course or the other to enable them learn how to manage fatigue while they are on the job. (more…)
Fatigue Management Training for 4.5 tonnes and above
A National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, responsible for regulating all vehicles in Australia over 4.5 tonnes will become operational on 1 January 2013. (more…)
Fatigue management – know your body clock
Have you ever wondered why you feel drowsy during certain times of the day, even though you may have gotten good sleep at night? That’s quite normal. Why? Because of circadian rhythms – in other words, your body clock. (more…)
AlertForce: Fatigue management training online
Fatigue and falling asleep are serious safety risks. If you are fatigued, your performance may become impaired. Your response times in critical situations may become slower. And your ability to get to and from work safely may be compromised.
Fatigue management training can help you avoid accidents and get home safely. (more…)
