Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Preparing the Future Scenario of Automated Vehicles: Recommendations Drawn from the Analysis of the Work Activity of Road Transport Workers

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Health and Social Care Systems of the Future: Demographic Changes, Digital Age and Human Factors (HEPS 2019)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1012))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

The European surveys have depicted the work activity in road transport as one of the less favorable in terms of working conditions, particularly with regard to working hours. The changes affecting the transport industry create a scenario of work intensification, characterized by different risk factors. Which working conditions contribute to this work intensification? And which impacts on health are perceived by professional drivers? A quantitative overview was adopted with the use of logistic regression models. The INSAT (Health and Work Survey) was used in two studies in Portugal: in a sample of 161 bus drivers; and in a sample of 336 drivers from both passenger and freight transport. The results showed that drivers experienced significant work-related health problems: headache, back pain, musculoskeletal disorders, anxiety, fatigue and generalized discouragement. The results also points out that risks such as extending the number of working hours per day, dealing with tension situations with the public or feeling exploited at work are key factors that increase the perception of back pain, discouragement and anxiety. The analysis of the working conditions in the road transport acquires thus a renewed relevance today, since at this moment the mobility sector, especially the public transport service, is crossing a new – digital – frontier with the increasing automation (driverless vehicles). Will this “mobility of the future” (apparently) without worker be capable of soften the effects of work-related risks on drivers’ health? Or will it give rise to new forms of work intensification and consequently to new costs for workers’ health?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Portuguese acronym of “Health and Work Survey”.

  2. 2.

    Despite the fact that we only mention here the quantitative data collected through INSAT, it is worth referring that this study included a broader approach, through drivers’ ergonomic work analysis: observations held inside of the buses (where the researcher compiled a register of the constitutive elements of the drivers’ work, such as the physical and cognitive aspects of the activity and the conflicting tasks as well), collection of verbalizations and semi-structured interviews) [23, 24].

  3. 3.

    In the context of interviews with the bus drivers, we could understand that these stress problems were very often translated into a perception of tiredness or exhaustion, which was associated with the competition between different transport companies on shared routes.

References

  1. Schreurs, M., Steuwer, S.: Autonomous driving: political, legal, social, and sustainability dimensions. In: Maurer, M., Gerdes, J., Lenz, B., Winner, H. (eds.) Autonomous Driving: Technical, Legal and Social Aspects, pp. 149–171. Springer, Berlin (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Commission, European: Employment, Skills, and Working Conditions in Transport. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Commission, European: Transport in the European Union–Current Trends and Issues. Directorate-General Mobility and Transport, Brussels (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Taylor, A., Dorn, L.: Stress, fatigue, health, and risk of road traffic accidents among professional drivers: the contribution of physical inactivity. Annu. Rev. Public Health 27, 371–391 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Bhatt, B., Seema, M.: Occupational health hazards: a study of bus drivers. J. Health Manag. 14(2), 201–206 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jones, W., Haslam, R., Haslam, C.: Bus driving–can it be a good job? In: Anderson, M. (ed.) Contemporary Ergonomics and Human Factors, pp. 69–76. Taylor & Francis Group, London (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Lemke, M., Hege, A., Apostolopoulos, Y., Wideman, L., Sönmez, S.: Work and sleep among transport operators: disparities and implications for safety. J. Transp. Health 7, 298–309 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. International Labour Organization: Priority safety and health issues in the road transport sector. International Labour Office, Geneva (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Ramos, S., Montemor, C.: AGE – Monitorização e gestão da saúde e da idade no trabalho: Relatório de Projeto. ACT – Autoridade para as Condições de Trabalho, Lisboa (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Kompier, M.: Bus drivers: occupational stress and stress prevention. International Labour Office, Geneva (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Tse, J., Flin, R., Mearns, K.: Bus driver well-being review: 50 years of research. Transp. Res. Part F Traffic Psychol. Behav. 9(2), 89–114 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Louit-Martinod, N., Chanut-Guieu, C., Kornig, C., Méhaut, P.: “A plus dans le bus”: work-related stress among French bus drivers. J. Work. Rights, Jan–Mar, 1–14 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Boyce, W.: Does truck driver health and wellness deserve more attention? J. Transp. Health 3, 124–128 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Wioland, L.: Ergonomic analyses within French transport and logistics sector: first steps towards a new “act elsewhere” prevention approach. Accid. Anal. Prev. 59, 213–220 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Eurofound: Sixth European working conditions survey. Publication Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Eurofound: Transport and storage sector: working conditions and job quality. Publications Office of the European Union, Dublin (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Thierry, S., Chouanière, D., Aubry, C.: Conduite et santé: une revue de la littérature. Documents Pour le Médecin du Travail 113, 45–63 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Guérin, F., Laville, A., Daniellou, F., Duraffourg, J., Kerguelen, A.: Understanding and Transforming Work: the Practice of Ergonomics. Editions National Agency for the Improvement of Working Conditions, Lyon (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Teiger, C., Lacomblez, M., Gaudart, C., Théry, L., Chassaing, K., Gâche, F.: Dynamique de la compréhension et de la transformation du travail. Éléments pour une histoire de la coopération syndicats-recherche en ergonomie et psychologie du travail en France. Nouvelle Rev. Psychosociologie 18(2), 195–210 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Gaudart, C.: Activity, time and itineraries: for the integration of multiple times in the ergonomics analysis of work. Le Travail Humain 79(3), 209–232 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Jones, C., Dorrian, J., Rajaratnam, S., Dawson, D.: Working hours regulations and fatigue in transportation: a comparative analysis. Saf. Sci. 43, 225–252 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Meijman, T., Kompier, M.: Busy business: how urban bus drivers cope with time pressure, passengers and traffic safety. J. Occup. Health Psychol. 3, 109–121 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Cunha, L.: Mobilidades, territórios e serviço público: debates sobre o interesse colectivo à margem do paradigma de uma sociedade móvel. Ph.D. thesis, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Porto, Portugal (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Cunha, L., Lacomblez, M.: Evolution of mobility by public transport and drivers’ working conditions: new relationships between work and aging. In: Marek, T., Karwowski, W., Rice, V. (eds.) Understanding Human Performance: Neuroergonomics, Human Factors, Design, and Special Populations, pp. 800–809. Taylor & Francis Group, London (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Useche, S., Gómez, V., Cendales, B., Alonso, F.: Working conditions, job strain, and traffic safety among three groups of public transport drivers. Saf. Health Work. 9, 454–461 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Commission, European: EU Transport in figures. Publications Office the European Union, Luxembourg (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Barros, C., Cunha, L., Baylina, P., Oliveira, A., Rocha, A.: Development and validation of a health and work survey based on the Rasch model among Portuguese workers. J. Med. Syst. 41(5), 1–9 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Cutean, A.: Autonomous Vehicles and the Future of Work in Canada. Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), Ottawa (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Pettigrew, S., Fritschi, L., Norman, R.: The potential implications of autonomous vehicles on and around the workplace. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 15, 1–10 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Gollac, M.: L’intensité du travail. Revue Économique 56, 195–216 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Commission, European: On the road to automated mobility: an EU strategy for mobility of the future. European Commission, Brussels (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Clot, Y.: Le travail sans l’homme?. La Découverte, Paris (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  33. International Transport Forum: Safer Roads with Automated Vehicles?. OECD/ITF, Paris (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Norman, D.: The human side of automation. In: Meyer, G., Beiker, S. (eds.) Road Vehicle Automation 2, pp. 73–79. Springer, Switzerland (2015)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  35. Noy, I., Shinar, D., Horrey, W.: Automated driving: safety blind spots. Saf. Sci. 102, 68–78 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Kyriakidis, M., de Winter, J., Stanton, N., Bellet, T., van Arem, B., Brookhuis, K., Martens, M., Bengler, K., Andersson, J., Merat, N., Reed, N., Flament, M., Hagenzieker, M., Happee, R.: A human factors perspective on automated driving. Theor. Issues Ergon. Sci. 1–27 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Cabrall, C., Eriksson, A., Dreger, F., Happee, R., de Winter, J.: How to keep drivers engaged while supervising driving automation? A literature survey and categorisation of six solutions areas. Theor. Issues Ergon. Sci. 20(3), 332–365 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Meyboom, A.: Driverless Urban Futures. Routledge, New York (2019)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Psychology at University of Porto (CPUP), Porto, Portugal

    Daniel Silva & Liliana Cunha

  2. Fundação Para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT Grant, SFRH/BD/139135/2018), Lisboa, Portugal

    Daniel Silva

  3. Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Liliana Cunha

  4. University of Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal

    Carla Barros

  5. Health School–Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Pilar Baylina

Authors
  1. Daniel Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Liliana Cunha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Carla Barros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Pilar Baylina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Silva .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Laboratório de Ergonomia, CIAUD, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Teresa Patrone Cotrim

  2. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Centro de Investigação em Saúde Pública, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Florentino Serranheira

  3. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Centro de Investigação em Saúde Pública, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Paulo Sousa

  4. Loughborough Design School, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

    Sue Hignett

  5. Centre for Patient Safety, Tuscany, Italy

    Sara Albolino

  6. Careggi University Hospital, Clinical Risk Management and Patient Safety Center, Tuscany, Italy

    Riccardo Tartaglia

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Silva, D., Cunha, L., Barros, C., Baylina, P. (2019). Preparing the Future Scenario of Automated Vehicles: Recommendations Drawn from the Analysis of the Work Activity of Road Transport Workers. In: Cotrim, T., Serranheira, F., Sousa, P., Hignett, S., Albolino, S., Tartaglia, R. (eds) Health and Social Care Systems of the Future: Demographic Changes, Digital Age and Human Factors. HEPS 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1012. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24067-7_35

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation