Driving a vehicle for long hours is tiring and even the most careful driver can become less alert. Drivers can do several things to help stay alert and safe. Here are few sug¬gestions: Be Ready to Drive- Leaving on a long trip when you are tired is dangerous. Make sure you get enough sleep before departing on your journey.

As most parts of the country prepare to turn clocks ahead one hour, the National Safety Council is cautioning employers that workers in certain positions and industries who already have a higher risk of being drowsy may be even more tired than usual next Monday. According to a new NSC report, Tired at Work: How fatigue affects our bodies, shift workers, medical staff, emergency responders, military personnel, any worker over age 40, and transportation professionals – especially those who work rotating or night shifts – always are at increased risk for circadian misalignment, which occurs when we force ourselves to stay awake at hours when our bodies believe we should be sleeping.

A new report from the Campbell Institute indicates not all employers are getting worker wellbeing right, and it could be affecting the sustainability of their business. While many organizations today are focused on wellbeing programs that tackle smoking cessation, weight loss or nutrition – not bad programs in and of themselves – the Campbell Institute report indicates a more multifaceted approach to worker wellbeing can lead to sustainable, and even increased, employee health.

A new federal regulation requiring commercial truck drivers to electronically log their hours is drawing both support and criticism from the trucking industry. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule – which went into effect in December 2017, started requiring commercial drivers to outfit their trucks with electronic logging devices (ELDs) to replace the paper time cards the industry has used for decades.

Planes, trains and automobiles…and drones…were frequently in the news this year. Accident investigations found fatigue, substance misuse and bad decisions behind a number of transportation-related accidents. Regulators attempted to keep pace with the development of autonomous vehicles and the growing popularity of drones. Here are the top transportation safety stories of 2017.

A sleep-deprived driver operating a motorcoach during early morning hours on a California highway caused a crash that killed four of the 24 passengers, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a report released yesterday. “Here’s yet another fatal crash involving both a motorcoach carrier with a starkly evident history of safety problems and a severely fatigued driver,” said NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt.

It’s been known for years now that driver fatigue is a serious risk – both on and off the job. A study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found fatigue was the top cause of driver distractions, representing 20 percent of all motor vehicle accidents. We’re just not getting enough sleep.

During an event Monday morning, Deborah A.P Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council, and Charles A Czeisler, PhD, FRCP, director of the Sleep Matters Initiative at Brigham Health, explained the NSC’s new Fatigue Cost Calculator for Employers — an online tool that provides companies with a snapshot of not only their losses, but also their return on investment if they implement employee sleep health education programs that screen for untreated sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia.

Attendees at the NSC Congress & Expo Monday morning listened to NASCAR driver Kyle Petty discuss safety in driving as well as his personal life. Petty spoke about deaths in the sport, as well as the death of his son, Adam, and said “NASCAR and the entire industry said we have to proactive; we have to hang up our game.

New research has uncovered the bottom-line benefits of clean air in the workplace. Safety and health professionals, HR executives, and facility managers can now make the argument that the benefits of providing a healthy indoor environment far outweigh the incremental costs.