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| Motorsports drivers need to be in peak of physical
and mental fitness – and company car drivers should
be no different. Prodrivelive offers guidelines for the flagging
fleet driver |
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| “Recent research reveals
that overweight motorists are more than twice as likely
to be killed or seriously injured in road accidents
than less weighty people” |
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Company car driving can seriously damage your health, so being in
tip-top physical and mental shape is crucial to improving road safety.
Employees who drive more than 25,000 miles a year have a one in
8,000 chance of dying while behind the wheel of their company car
– a risk similar to that of miners dying at the coal face,
according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
Meanwhile, recent research reveals that overweight motorists are
more than twice as likely to be killed or seriously injured in road
accidents than less weighty people (see panel 1). As a result, corporate
driver development programme specialist Prodrivelive, a division
of motorsport company Prodrive – which is bestknown for its
involvement in the World Rally Championship and Le Mans 24-hour
race – is promoting diet and fitness for company car drivers.
Just as human performance is a major factor in rally and endurance
driving, involving drivers being in the best physical and mental
shape possible in order to cope with the extreme demands of their
sport, so, it is argued, the same is true for fleet drivers.
John Mills, the man responsible for developing the human performance
strategies for a number of Prodrive motorsport teams, including
the Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello Team that won the GTS category at
this year’s Le Mans, says: “In the technological age,
it is easy to overlook the impact of the human factor. However,
it is an area which we look to exploit.”
Key areas for focus – as they can have a major impact on driving
performance – are hydration, nutrition, exercise and sleep.
Mental skills training and measures to ensure optimum health are
also part of the diet, health and fitness programme. A further significant
issue is to adopt the correct posture when driving to protect the
back from damage (see panel 2). Carrying excess weight will affect
your posture.
So, for company car and van drivers, out goes the snatched burger
bought in a motorway service area and the packet of crisps eaten
on the move and in comes a diet and fitness programme designed to
boost reaction times, reduce stress levels and enhance concentration.
Prodrivelive managing director Paul Catlin says: “I don’t
think poor driving causes all accidents involving company-owned
vehicles. I think the majority of fleet drivers are very good, but
they are under a lot of stress; they have mood swings and mood dictates
driving style. “Motorsport drivers require 100% focus and
concentration. That is no different for company car drivers. I don’t
want today’s most unfit company car drivers to be fit enough
to compete in the next Olympic Games, but they can take action to
avoid having an accident.”
The importance of hydration
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| “Motorsport drivers require
100% focus and concentration. That is no different for
company car drivers” |
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Dehydration occurs when the amount of water taken in is less than
the amount lost. On a normal, moderate temperature, inactive day,
the average person loses a pint or more of water by breathing and
two-three pints or more through perspiration and urine.
Therefore, a minimum of eight to10 glasses of water a day is required
just to replace average losses. However, when the body is exposed
to certain environments, such as hot or cold conditions, air conditioning
or stressful situations, the importance of correct fluid intake
increases.
Don't wait until you are thirsty to decide to drink. When you feel
thirsty you have already lost at least 1% of your bodyweight in
sweat. Try to drink before you feel thirsty.
Symptoms of dehydration
• Sapping of energy
• Decreased performance
• Poor concentration levels
• Poor mental alertness
• Fatigue
• Irregular mood swings
• Headaches and irritability
• Increased risk of injuries and/or accidents related to tiredness
and poor concentration
• Poor recovery and successive performance
How to tell if you are already dehydrated
• Feeling thirsty (already on the road to dehydration)
• Urine is a darker colour than normal
• Headache and light headedness
• Irritable
• Poor concentration
How to stay hydrated
• Monitor the colour of urine to avoid dehydration (if it
is dark in colour, this indicates you should be drinking more water)
• Keep a 1.5 litre bottle of water with you all the time.
Sip water, don’t gulp as it will have the opposite effect
and flush your body of water
• Go easy on carbonated drinks since these rapidly fill the
stomach
• Fruit and vegetables are excellent sources of water and
can therefore help hydrate the body
Panel 1
Two separate studies of car crash deaths and injuries have
revealed that heavier people are more likely to be accident
victims than lighter people. A study in Seattle of 26,000
people involved in car crashes found that people weighing
between 100 kgs (15st 10lbs) and 119 kgs (18st 10 lbs) were
almost two-and-a-half-times more likely to die than people
weighing less than 60 kgs (9st 7lbs).
The study found that it was not just a question of weight
but of obesity as it looked at body mass index – which
relates weight to height – and concluded that people
with a body mass index of 35-39 (over 30 is obese) were more
than twice as likely to die in a car crash compared with people
with a body mass index of about 20.
Meanwhile, a study of crash deaths and injuries in New Zealand
showed that overweight drivers were twice as likely to be
injured in road accidents as people of average size. The researchers
looked at data from road accidents between 1988 and 1998 and
categorised them into four groups according to body mass.
This research, however, also found that thin people were less
protected by body fat so had an increased risk of bone fracture
which could raise their injury rate.
Dr Tony Lavelle, medical adviser at the
RAC Foundation, believes there could be several factors influencing
the severity of accidents among obese drivers:
• Overweight people
are more prone to sleep disorders and are therefore more likely
to fall asleep at the wheel
• Seatbelts and airbags
are generally designed for average-sized people
•
Car interiors might not be suitably designed for heavier people
• Increased mortality may also be due to co-morbid factors
such as high blood pressure, diabetes or a higher likelihood
of heart attacks
• In a crash, an unconscious obese
person is more likely to choke as a result of swallowing their
tongue before the arrival of the emergency services
•
Emergency services find it more difficult to remove larger
occupants from crashed vehicles
As a consequence of the studies, the RAC Foundation says more
could be done to reduce the risk of death to obese drivers.
It suggests:
• The introduction of smart airbags
that react to the position of the seat or weight on the seat
• Improvements in the design of seatbelts to give more
protection to occupants of different shapes and sizes
• Greater use of different sizes of crash test dummies
in the development of vehicles
• Greater awareness
of the dangers of falling asleep at the wheel
•
Drivers exercising more when taking a break to avoid the risk
of deep vein thrombosis – obese people are more at risk
• Drivers giving up the car for short journeys |
The importance of nutrition
It is best to aim to eat small and regular meals throughout the
day utilising good quality snacks – a breakfast, mid-morning
snack, lunch, afternoon snack and evening meal.
This will help control blood sugar levels, which is essential to
carry out both physical and mental tasks optimally. Controlling
blood sugar levels is vital as it has an influence on the way we
feel, higher (not excess) blood sugar can make you feel awake and
energetic, while lower blood sugar can lead to fatigue, tension,
depression and lethargy (see chart 1). Many people miss breakfast,
but experts regard it as the most important meal of the day.
Chart 1: The causes and effects of high
and low blood sugar |
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Research conducted by Professor Andrew Smith of Cardiff University,
showed that those people who regularly consumed a high-fibre diet
were less emotionally distressed, had fewer cognitive difficulties,
had a more positive mood, had less difficulty falling asleep and
they also had lower depression scores than those people who ate
a low-fibre diet. (See Smith A et al, High fibre breakfast cereals
reduce fatigue. Appetite. 2001 37, 1-3)
Research suggests that starting the day with breakfast helps improve
mental performance, ensures essential intake of vitamins and minerals,
may reduce incidence and severity of the common cold, improves food
choices throughout the day, making overeating less likely.
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| “Drivers falling asleep
could be the cause of more than 300 deaths annually
and many thousands of injuries a year” |
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It is, therefore, vital for anyone watching their weight and may
help reduce stress and improve mood. The ideal breakfast choices
would be high in fibre and low fat. For example non-sugary cereal,
oats, toast and jam/marmalade, fruit salad with bio yoghurt topped
with mixed nuts and seeds.
However, if in a rush, grab a couple of pieces of fruit and a handful
of nuts and seeds. Meanwhile, the occasional cooked breakfast (grilled
not fried) need not be on the banned list. On your journey home
from the office, avoid low blood sugar levels by having something
light to eat before you set off, such as a piece of fruit or sugar-free
flapjack.
While, if you are in and out of your car all day, then having any
of these beneficial foods – oat cakes, fruit, unsalted mixed
nuts, malt loaf, dried fruit – will see you through the day,
providing a good alternative to caffeine or high-sugar snacks.
The importance of exercise
The benefits of regular exercise:
• By keeping the heart fit several cardiovascular risks are
reduced, such as high blood pressure
• You are better able to cope with stress
• You have increased energy levels
• By making exercise a part of your normal daily routine,
long-term weight loss is more likely to be achieved
• It improves posture and poise
• It improves digestion
• There is no doubt that regular exercise reduces the risk
of problems such as depression, stress and anxiety and improves
concentration and reaction times
• It improves bones: in general, all exercise will help to
strengthen bones and muscles
• It improves the feel-good factor
The importance of sleep
Driver sleepiness is thought to cause at least 10% of all road accidents
and one in five accidents on motorways and trunk roads. It is also
considered to claim more lives on the UK’s roads than alcohol.
Those statistics mean that drivers falling asleep could be the cause
of more than 300 deaths annually and many thousands of injuries
a year.
Research also shows that men between the ages of 18-30 are most
at risk and account for around 50% of sleep-related accidents, and
most accidents happen between 2am-6am and mid-afternoon between
2pm-4pm. But a night's sleep in the UK now averages about 90 minutes
less than it did in the 1920s, when it was nine hours per night.
Research suggests sleep-deprived people are less happy and more
stressed than those getting eight hours downtime at night.
The impact of a lack of sleep includes physical frailness, as well
as mental and physical exhaustion, leading some researchers to class
sleep depravation as a national emergency.
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| “Driver sleepiness is thought
to cause at least 10% of all road accidents and one
in five accidents on motorways and trunk roads”
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Driver fatigue, and the effects of tiredness on under-pressure company
car and van drivers, has been highlighted as a major cause of road
accidents following last year’s Selby rail crash in which
ten people died. A lack of sleep on the part of Gary Hart, the Land
Rover driver involved in the disaster and who was subsequently jailed,
was believed to be one of the causes of the incident.
Researchers at Loughborough University's Sleep Research Laboratory
have found that people are designed for two sleeps a day –
the main one at night, complemented by a cat nap in the afternoon.
If you do not have the luxury of an afternoon siesta, but still
tend to get sleepy at about this time, it may be interesting to
note that by increasing the length of your night-time sleep, this
afternoon “dip” disappears, although a 10-minute nap
at lunchtime is just as effective.
Tips for improving the quality of sleep include:
• Keep a regular routine
• Make your bedroom more conducive to sleep, not too hot,
cold, noisy, poorly ventilated or full of tobacco smoke
• De-stress each evening before you go to bed with a spot
of relaxation in the form of a massage,
warm bath, yoga or just turn off the TV and read a book
• Make sure you go to bed tired – get some exercise
every day or take a cooling walk in the evening
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| “Driver fatigue and the
effects of tiredness on under-pressure car and van drivers
has been highlighted as a major cause of accidents following
last year’s Selby train crash” |
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• Avoid late-night stimulants such as coffee, tea,
cocoa and alcohol
• A light snack can help to induce sleep. Some experts recommend
drinking herbal teas such as Camomile, or eating snacks such as
wholemeal banana muffins, turkey and cottage cheese sandwiches as
they help the brain to produce the chemical serotonin, which is
involved in sleep.
Source: Prodrive
Tips to reduce the effects of tiredness include:
• Never start a journey if you are already feeling sleepy
• Try to avoid making long trips between midnight and 6am
when natural alertness is low
• Stop for a 15-minute break every two hours on a long journey
• If you start to feel sleepy, find a safe place to stop (not
on the hard shoulder)
• Drink one or two cans of a functional energy or a caffeine
drink.
• Take a short nap and resume your journey 15-20 minutes later
– this also gives the drink time to have an effect.
• Remember that opening the window or turning up the radio
will do little to stop you falling asleep at the wheel
Source: Sleep Research Centre,
Loughborough University.
Summary
DO:
/ Eat little and often:
Breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, afternoon, (even late afternoon
just before drive home) and evening meal to avoid lows
/ Eat meals that are balanced
Good balance of carbohydrates (high fibre, low sugar) protein
and a little fat
/ Ensure you keep hydrated
Drinking water/herbal or fruit teas throughout the day, occasional
tea and coffee, and so on, will keep your thirst at bay
/ Increase intake of nutrient dense foods
Dark green vegetables and fruits (especially berries)
/ Increase intake of essential fats
Omega 3 oils- fish, linseeds and/or good supplement
/ Get active
Ensure you take regular breaks throughout the day to stretch
your legs and get fresh air. Include some form of physical
exercise each day
/ Ensure you get enough sleep
If you need 8-hrs sleep then make sure you get it. Take advantage
of afternoon naps (no more than 20-mins) if required
/ Enjoy the feel good factor
Enjoy the increase energy, well being and positive feelings
a balanced healthy life brings
DON’T:
Increase stimulants
Don’t rely on caffeine, teas and carbonated drinks to
keep you going, as they only mask the shortfalls of an unbalanced
lifestyle
Pick/graze food
Have set times to eat and then let the digestive system have
a break |
Panel 2
Company car drivers at the wheel for more than four hours
a day or who clock up more than 25,000 miles a year are six
times more likely to be on sick leave due to low back trouble,
according to research.
Now ACFO (The Association of Car Fleet Operators) has sponsored
a leaflet for motorists– Drivers: Steer Clear of Pain
– that promotes stretches for drivers, which can play
a crucial role in the prevention of both discomfort and fatigue.
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy has produced the leaflet
in conjunction with Professor Mark Porter and Dr Diane Gyi
of Loughborough University and Helen Williams of HJ Consultancy,
Aynho. The three ergonomists carried out a project entitled
“Reducing Back Pain in High Mileage Business Drivers”,
which received funding as part of the Back In Work Initiative
of the Department of Health and the Health and Safety Executive.
The project team audited 11 small and medium-sized businesses
and multi-national companies and found that in the majority
of companies at least half of their drivers reported having
low back trouble.
Recommendations detailed on the project team’s website
(www.DrivingErgonomics.com),
include:
• Ensure the
driver is given specific training, which covers car adjustment
mechanisms and ergonomics/posture
• Provide an information
pack, which (in addition to the company car policy) includes
details on posture and ergonomics
• If a company
car proves unsuitable and results in driver discomfort, ensure
there is a system that will enable an alternative and more
appropriate vehicle to be allocated
• Further test-drives
to ensure the alternative vehicle is suitable.
Key
considerations to avoid back pain include:
•
A car seat base of adequate size, with an independent height
and tilt adjustment
• A back rest, which provides
continuous support along the length of the back
•
A fully adjustable steering wheel in the following directions
– up/down, in/out and tilt
• Avoid a fixed,
static driving posture – adopt a range of good and comfortable
driving positions
• Avoid driving for long periods
– take a break of at least 15 minutes every two hours
• Avoid using the car as an office as many of the tasks,
for example, laptop use and paperwork, can involve poor constrained
postures and can lead to increased stress on your back
• Beware of restricting ergonomic choice through solus
or dualsupply agreements or cost
• The car selection
process should accommodate the ergonomic needs of individual
drivers, with appropriate levels of adjustability to enable
good and comfortable driving postures to be adopted
The leaflet ‘Drivers: Steer Clear
of Pain’ is available from ACFO.
Tel: 01730 260162. |
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