A white paper looking at the connection between mental health and driver safety at work has been published by fleet management company Venson Automotive Solutions.
Entitled ‘It’s good to talk: caring about mental health’, the paper – available to download from Venson’s website – looks at the causes and symptoms of stress. Particularly in relation to driving behaviour at work, dealing with productivity demands and increasing workloads.
It highlights how employees suffering from stress are 50% more likely to drive dangerously, which it says underlines the need for employers to consider stress and mental health a key focus of driver safety policy.
Factors said to contribute to stress include an increasingly demanding work culture in the UK, financial wellbeing, relationships, moving house, bereavement and the risk of unemployment.
Venson director of client management Simon Staton said: “Managing the driver, vehicle and journey are the main areas employers need to focus on, when it comes to the safety of their drivers, but all too often mental health is overlooked.
“This white paper outlines the challenges facing businesses, and asks them to question if their drivers are sufficiently fit and healthy to drive safely and not put themselves and others at risk.”
