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Join us as Dr. Sarah Jones discusses the insights gained from analyzing ten years of fatalities data at Toll Group, highlighting the relationship between rules and human behavior and suggesting preventative actions for improving road safety.
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Learning the lessons: what ten years of fatalities data at Toll Group can teach us about road safety
Moderator Jerome Carslake NRSPP Manager ARRB Group P: +61 3 9881 1670 E: jerome.carslake@arrb.com.au
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Today’s presenter Dr Sarah Jones General Manager Road Transport Safety and Compliance at Toll Group Formerly Project Director for Compliance and Technology at the National Transport Commission Various roles with the Transport Department and Department for Planning and Infrastructure in WA Key interest: relationship between rules and actual human behaviour Content Warning: Themes involving death by suicide Lifeline 13 11 14
Toll is committed to a safety first culture We believe that everyone has the right to return home safely and we are working towards creating a workplace free of incidents and injuries We operate in a high risk industry We are safety obsessed Toll versus industry current performance Transport, Postal and Warehousing Industry in Australia Our Focus Areas Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate Safety-first mindset 10.1 756 global safety workshops 10,909 people completed (leaders, supervisors, workers) Stringent safety reporting Transport, Postal and Warehousing Industry average* Multimillion dollar investment to embed and sustain a single comprehensive global safety system, improving reporting and compliance *LTI data used is from Toll’s incident reporting system. Toll LTI and hours worked data have been entered in the Worksafe Australia comparison tool (https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/statistics-and-research/lost-time-injury-frequency-rates-ltifr). The Toll figures are accurate at the time of reporting. Preventative technologies AUD$1.6 billion investment in fleet and equipment globally to improve safety and efficiency (including telematics, driver app) Source: • www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1807/road-transport-priority-industry-snapshot-2018.pdf
Research Impetus In anticipation of 26C project designed to: • quantify the incidence of on-road and driver fatalities at Toll Group from 1 July 2007 to 31 December 2016 • identify characteristics, patterns, anomalies in the data • suggest preventative actions Scope • Situations where a Toll employee, contractor or casual was killed on a road or road related area • Situations where a Toll employee, contractor or casual was involved in (but not necessarily responsible for) an on-road incident that resulted in a fatality • Situations where a Toll driver (employee, contractor or casual) died at a Toll premises or in a Toll vehicle, regardless of the cause • International – all locations from which Toll operates
On-road and driver fatalities trend (non-work related incidents & suicides removed)
Summary 1 July 2007 – 31 December 2016 • 147 fatalities arising from 127 incidents • 97 fatal incidents resulting in 117 fatalities (non-work related fatalities and suicides by truck removed from the data) Overall trend is downwards • 2010/11 – 1 employee* died for every 29 million kms travelled • 2015/16 – 1 employee* died for every 116 million kms travelled
Finding 1: Light vehicle over-representation • In most cases, liability lies with the third party • Consistent with NTI findings “Of these fatal accidents [multi-vehicle fatal accidents], the driver of the car or light vehicle was found to be totally responsible in 93% of the incidents” 2017 report • Are light vehicle drivers sufficiently educated about how to drive safely around trucks? • Most state and national road safety strategies do not reference truck/car interaction
Finding 2: Correlation with contractors & casual drivers • Relationship holds when tested against kms travelled • Subcontractor/casual drivers killed in work-related fatalities at 3x the rate of Toll drivers • Correlation is not causation • Why does this relationship exist? • Obligations of prime contractor in the HVNL • Subcontractor management • Linehaul Subcontractor Forums: greater emphasis on education, information and upskilling
Finding 3: Natural causes • Non-work related fatalities occurred in 9% of incidents (employee and contractor combined) and are overwhelmingly the result of a heart attack experienced on a Toll premises or in a Toll vehicle • This is consistent with the broader heavy vehicle driver experience whereby most non-traumatic driver deaths ‘are caused by cardiovascular disease…many have no prior knowledge of the presence of the condition’ [my emphasis] Routley, Staines, Brennan et al, Suicide and natural deaths in road traffic – review, MUARC, August 2003, p.20 • Assessing Fitness to Drive and cardiovascular health • Fitness for Duty Standards exist in rail, maritime and aviation: why not road transport? • Currently in development at Toll Group
Finding 4: Suicide by truck • Where a third party intentionally places themselves in the truck’s path and is confirmed as suicidally ideated by the coroner, the police and/or the insurer • 14% (63% pedestrian, 32% car, 5% motorcyclist) • Almost certainly an underestimate • Coroner’s court presumption against suicide • Evidence for motor vehicle crash being: • ‘the preferred method for disguising suicidal intent as an accident…This has the benefit of saving the decedent’s family from the stigma of suicide’ - Routley, Staines, Brennan et al, “Suicide and natural deaths in road traffic – review”, MUARC, August 2003 • Our estimate is closer to 20% of the fatalities with which we are involved • The Department of Vehicle Safety at the Chalmers University of Technology studied 379 fatal crashes involving heavy goods vehicles in Sweden. This included 65 crashes (17%) classified as suicides all of which were head-on collisions. (Balint, Fagerlind, Martinsson et al, Accident analysis for traffic safety aspects of High Capacity Transport, May 2014) • NTI interrogation of our multi-vehicle fatal crashes in 2017, 37.5% were either indicated or strongly-indicated as suicide;with 20.8% being strongly indicated. • Near-misses are unquantified
Finding 4: Suicide by truck • What impact is this having on our drivers? • Post traumatic stress disorder – quote from Toll’s Head Chaplain • Increasing recognition of the relationship between mental health and wellbeing and road safety • Until now, largely unacknowledged/under-researched phenomenon • Suicides are removed from the road toll and not separately reported • Why? • Perception that suicide is not “preventable” and so doesn’t belong in road safety policy discussion • Policy conundrum • Toll cannot solve this unilaterally • The Werther effect • The rail experience: estimate 150 suicides per year and significant near-misses • TrackSafe Launched 2012 • We have now entered into a formal partnership with TrackSafe and are adapting their trauma management programs
Finding 5: Fatigue/WOCL • 23% of all fatalities either occurred during the window of circadian low, or fatigue was a causal factor • Haworth estimated fatigue or sleep to contribute to 20% of truck-involved fatal crashes (MUARC,1989) • NTI: losses attributed to fatigue at 12.2%
Closing Remarks • Interrogating data a useful place to start with 26C and Executive Officer Liability • Industry has valuable insights and should have a seat at the policy/regulatory table • Perception of trucks being “at fault” not borne out by our data • Toll has work to do on subcontractor management and education • We need cross-sectoral collaboration to tackle how to share the roads safely • If fitness for duty standards are required in aviation, rail and maritime, why should road transport be different? • Vehicular suicide is hidden and so is not receiving an adequate policy response • Fatigue/driving at night remains a risk