News
27/04/23
Are your drivers experiencing increased levels of stress and mental health issues?
A recent study carried out by Bridgestone and Webfleet found that over ¾ of fleet operators felt that the pressures on their drivers and businesses were increasing. The VP at Bridgestone said that if the vehicles are the workhorse of the UK economy, the drivers are its heartbeat. The survey showed what most in the industry are fully aware of and that we need to focus on the health and well-being of drivers and their workspace.
Drivers often spend long periods of time on their own, and it is expected that 1 in 4 will experience mental health problems throughout any one given year. In a survey conducted by the charity Mind in 2021, it found that 30% of work-related illness in the transport and logistics industry was due to stress, anxiety and depression. Transport remains a male-dominated sector and in my experience, men still find it very hard to talk about any sort of illness let alone their mental health, there is still a stigma for men and the only way this will change is when key industry figures come forward and start to talk about the mental health of their drivers.
Stress can often cause things like insomnia and even with the regular breaks a driver must take, exhaustion can contribute to near misses and additional accidents on the roads. HGV drivers often work on shift patterns, as the haulage networks tend to work during the nights when the roads are quieter. It is well-recognised that shifts can have a detrimental effect on your health with the risk of injury increasing by 23/30% if you work nights. And it’s not just your mental health that can be affected, there is also a higher risk of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal problems as meals are often missed or not taken at sensible times of the day and drivers find if hard to take care of their diets.
Many employers are now focussing more on the health of their drivers as there is a limited supply coming into the workplace and retention and morale have become more important than ever.
If you are looking for a recruitment partner who understands how the logistics industry works and has a targeted approach to driving new applications for their clients, call our logistics desk today.