Fatigue - ScORSA Membership Insights

This month, we asked Dr Karen McDonell for her insights.

How significant is driver fatigue as a road safety issue?

To put is very simply driving tired kills! Fatigue, more specifically sleepiness or drowsiness is a major contributing factor in driving impairment (Alfonso-Miller et al 2026). Fatigue is estimated to be a factor in around 20 % of accidents on major roads in the UK and is thought to result in annual costs of £115 to £240 million in work-related accidents alone (Health and Safety Executive, 2026).

Why should employers view fatigue and driver wellbeing as an occupational road risk.

The data tells the story, Department for Transport (DfT) figures for Great Britain (Excluding Northern Ireland) in 2024, highlighted that 23,770 (24 %) of all police-reported crashes involved at least one driver driving for work. These crashes resulted in 6,679 people killed or seriously injured (KSI), representing 23 % of all KSI victims that year, underscoring the serious risks of work-related driving (Department for Transport, 2025). This compares to 124 workers who were killed in accidents in workplaces in 2024/25 (Health and Safety Executive, 2025). Additionally, 4759 individuals were killed or seriously injured in collisions involving working drivers, including 1173 pedestrians who were struck by a working driver (Department for Transport, 2026).

This data reinforces the importance of building fatigue management into the organisations approach to risk assessment.

What practical steps can an organisation take to reduce fatigue and support employee wellbeing?

Collect data, undertake analysis and build an evidence base that underpins the development of future driver fatigue and wellbeing interventions.

Ask;

Does our work programming including shift work build in fatigue management?

Are our workers sufficiently rested to work including driving for work safely?

Do we have a person-centred approach to driver health and wellbeing, that includes fatigue?

Do we undertake crash investigations that factor in driver fatigue?