Evaluating Health Evidence Of Truck Drivers

I would like to address some missing information in my portfolio that will help deal with our truck drivers’ health problems. Firstly, the attitude of the truck drivers towards their work. According to research, truck drivers are under extremely tight schedules. Such tight schedules cause stress that can result in emotional and physical depletion. Furthermore, these incapacitating circumstances are linked to a lack of concern for safety compliance.

Lastly, bus and truck drivers are unavoidably subjected to high-intensity engine noise for the large distances they travel. According to recent studies, truck drivers have a significant risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality(Oviedo-Trespalacios & Scott-Parker, 2019). These drivers were also more likely to have hearing problems and depression. I find this information useful in my portfolio since it can help reduce health problems that the organization’s drivers’ health problems.

Obesity prevention, from a population standpoint, entails reversing this trend by reducing the mean BMI and minimizing the rates of obesity, or the frequency at which persons reach the higher end of the BMI range. The first sign of progress would be stabilizing the BMI distributions or increasing the number of new drivers reaching the appropriate BMI threshold, followed by a decrease in both indicators. To achieve this inside the firm, drivers who are healthy (overweight, not underweight, or obese) must retain that status and prevent the usual phenomena of excess weight increase that comes with age.

Preventing or limiting the emergence of obesity-related health complications in drivers who have been overweight can be characterized as delaying the progress towards a more serious level of obesity and preventing the advancement to a more extreme level(Halpern et al., 2017). The obesity issue does not have a single or easy answer. It’s a complicated topic that requires a varied response. In collaboration with other employees, the organizational management can aid in the resolution of this health issue. There are various ways to foster a supportive environment that encourages healthy lifestyles among the drivers.

Sources Summary

Source 1

According to this source, excessive workload, little job control, unpredictable schedules, chronic stress, intense time demands and interrupted sleep habits are among the challenges truck drivers face. This working environment has been connected to distressing symptoms, cardiovascular, hyperlipidemia, cancer, diabetes, and sleep apnea in truckers. In addition, road traffic accidents are often bad for trucker drivers and the general public(Oviedo-Trespalacios & Scott-Parker, 2019). Truckers’ accessibility to health treatments is unreasonably limited in such a pervasively threat workplace. The working environment of truck drivers is considerably risky, yet very little is done to improve their working conditions.

Source 2

            Exhaustion and sleepy driving have been identified as key contributors to truck accidents. The most common cause of weariness and sleepiness is a lack of sleep. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of research on truck drivers’ sleeping habits during non-working hours and their influence on driving performance. This study looked at the sleep habits of 96 professional truck drivers during non-working hours to see if they impacted their driving ability. For around four weeks, every driver took part in the research. A shift was described as a time of non-work following a period of labor. According to the source, the sleeping habits related to the greatest risk of safety-critical events were less sleep, sleeping in the early stages of non-work time, and much less sleep from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. This research also revealed that male drivers with less years’ experience and a greater BMI had poorer driving skills and were more likely to crash.

Source 3

            The third source shows that noise, which is described as an unpleasant sound, is not recognized as a stressor that can cause increased blood pressure (BP) in animals and animals in laboratory or professional settings. Hearing loss, irritation, sleep disruption, and high blood pressure have been reported in several extensive assessments of noise exposure. Because vibrations and noise are generally perceived together, the lorry and bus driver is subjected to both factors’ simultaneous attack. It is a major area of concern for truck drivers in our organization, who already face high-stress levels due to the traffic conditions throughout their tight work schedules. These drivers were shown to have a significant risk of cardiovascular morbidity and death in certain cross-sectional studies. 

Source 4

            According to the source, diesel truck drivers get a higher cancer risk than other teamster positions from outside the trucking business. Inhaled diesel fumes cause lung cancers in rats, yet there is little evidence that truckers are subjected to diesel fumes. After adjusting for smoking, evidence of human studies has found that diesel-exposed employees had an increased risk of lung cancer. According to the source, truck drivers have a higher risk of getting lung cancer after considering smoking. Still, this risk is particularly related to truck drivers who have been exposed to diesel for a long time. Other new evidence suggests that diesel exposure increases the risk of getting cancer in general.

References

Halpern, B. S., Frazier, M., Afflerbach, J., O’Hara, C., Katona, S., Stewart Lowndes, J. S., Jiang, N., Pacheco, E., Scarborough, C., & Polsenberg, J. (2017). Drivers and implications of change in global ocean health over the past five years. PLoS One, 12(7), e0178267.

Oviedo-Trespalacios, O., & Scott-Parker, B. (2019). Fast and furious: A neglected issue in health promotion among young drivers. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 30(3), 311–316.