One must not forget that the workers crappy lifestyle, of booze, lack of
exercise, High Fat diet etc other hobbys and interests also play a major factor
in the effects of long hours.
Although I do agree that workplace layout/design, seating design, job/task
design (ie the demands of the task at hand) are all critical.
> >As employers try to screw more production out of staff, they run into the
> >limiting frailties of the human frame - and too many have then blamed the
> >drivers for the shortcomings, and not the rosters they have posted and
> crude rest "facilities" they have provided.
> >
With many people being paid "overtime" or a performance/incentive based salary
structure, the worker often choses to work long hours. Try to take away
overtime, and see what happens.
> >Many western governments have responded with mandatory limits on hours of
> >duty. These are generally crude responses, but they do at least curb the
> >excesses of employers, and some macho or desperate drivers.
Sorry, I haven't seen or heard of this stuff actually being law. there are some
limitations applied but generally as an award, with all sorts of outs here and
there (a good example is the Nurses award).
> >
> >Bill
> >
> I agree with the above comments and one of the things I find amaving is the
> hours road transport considers drivers can work compared to rail transport.
> While I don't have the figures in front of me I seem to remember that truck
> drivers can drive significantly longer periods that train drivers.
> Admittedly, truckies can pull over and have a kip but this does not seem to
> be the whole story. Perhaps this explains why trucks regularly run off
> straight roads in good weather?
>
> Barry Campbell
>
Truckies are a great example of incentive based pay schemes.
They, the ones I deal with, get paid per km, so the longer it takes, the less
they can earn, hence they drive like maniacs, have short turnarounds and rest,
eat crappy fast food to save time, and dare I say it, some MAY even resort to
other methods to keep awake.and suffer all sorts of horrible effects as a
result, including running you and me off the road.
A trip to perth and back (ex ADL) is around 72 hours.
Melbourne and back 20hrs
BTW a good book to start with is Grandjean, called "fitting the task to the Man"
(try pp 226-230) Pre-femmo title. There are others easily available.
Regards
Nic