| 1. |
- Anund, Anna, 1964-, et al.
(author)
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An on-road study of sleepiness in split shifts among city bus drivers
- 2018
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In: Accident Analysis and Prevention. - : Elsevier. - 0001-4575 .- 1879-2057. ; 114, s. 71-76
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bus drivers often work irregular hours or split shifts and their work involves high levels of stress. These factors can lead to severe sleepiness and dangerous driving. This study examined how split shift working affects sleepiness and performance during afternoon driving. An experiment was conducted on a real road with a specially equipped regular bus driven by professional bus drivers.The study had a within-subject design and involved 18 professional bus drivers (9 males and 9 females) who drove on two afternoons; one on a day in which they had driven early in the morning (split shift situation) and one on a day when they had been off duty until the test (afternoon shift situation). The hypothesis tested was that split shifts contribute to sleepiness during afternoon, which can increase the safety risks. The overall results supported this hypothesis. In total, five of the 18 drivers reached levels of severe sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale ≥8) with an average increase in KSS of 1.94 when driving in the afternoon after working a morning shift compared with being off duty in the morning. This increase corresponded to differences observed between shift workers starting and ending a night shift. The Psychomotor Vigilance Task showed significantly increased response time with split shift working (afternoon: 0.337. s; split shift 0.347. s), as did the EEG-based Karolinska Drowsiness Score mean/max. Blink duration also increased, although the difference was not significant. One driver fell asleep during the drive. In addition, 12 of the 18 bus drivers reported that in their daily work they have to fight to stay awake while driving at least 2-4 times per month. While there were strong individual differences, the study clearly showed that shift-working bus drivers struggle to stay awake and thus countermeasures are needed in order to guarantee safe driving with split shift schedules.
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| 2. |
- Anund, Anna, 1964-, et al.
(author)
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Threats and violence towards urban bus drivers in Sweden : Drivers experiences and general recommendations to prevent violence and threats
- 2022
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In: Work. - : IOS PRESS. - 1051-9815 .- 1875-9270. ; 72:4, s. 1279-1287
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Approximately 30% of Swedish urban bus drivers report having been exposed to threats or violence. As 50% of drivers have voiced concerns about the occurrences, threats and violence also represent contributing factors to driver stress and fatigue. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore bus drivers' experience of threats and violence; how threats and violence manifests and how the problem is handled by drivers. Gaining understanding of the circumstances is important to reduce the number of threats and violent incidents to provide healthy and attractive working conditions for drivers. METHODS: This study is based on in-depth interviews with 12 urban bus drivers in the City of Malmö in Sweden. RESULTS: Urban bus drivers experience threats daily from passengers, although physical violence occurs less often. The most common situations resulting in threats involve asking passengers to show valid tickets, denying child carriages onboard and running late to a bus stop. The drivers have not received clear guidelines as to strategic handling of the invalid ticket situation. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations include a clear policy and consensus with regard to handling invalid tickets, providing drivers with guidelines for appropriate procedures for passengers refusing to pay, improving reporting routines and establishing a strategy for the Public Transportation provider and operator to follow with regard to reports, in-vehicle surveillance cameras including informing passengers that they are being video recorded as well as harmonizing the location of alarm buttons on buses.
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| 3. |
- Ihlström, Jonas, 1981-, et al.
(author)
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Split-shift work in relation to stress, health and psychosocial work factors among bus drivers
- 2017
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In: Work. - : IOS Press. - 1051-9815 .- 1875-9270. ; 56:4, s. 531-538
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Shift work has been associated with poor health, sleep and fatigue problems and low satisfaction with working hours. However, one type of shift working, namely split shifts, have received little attention.OBJECTIVE: This study examined stress, health and psychosocial aspects of split-shift schedules among bus drivers in urban transport.METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed to drivers working more than 70% of full time which 235 drivers in total answered.RESULTS: In general, drivers working split-shift schedules (n = 146) did not differ from drivers not working such shifts (n = 83) as regards any of the outcome variables that were studied. However, when individual perceptions towards split-shift schedules were taken into account, a different picture appeared. Bus drivers who reported problems working split shifts (36%) reported poorer health, higher perceived stress, working hours interfering with social life, lower sleep quality, more persistent fatigue and lower general work satisfaction than those who did not view split shifts as a problem. Moreover, drivers who reported problems with split shifts also perceived lower possibilities to influence working hours, indicating lower work time control.CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that split shifts were not associated with increased stress, poorer health and adverse psychosocial work factors for the entire study sample. However, the results showed that individual differences were important and approximately one third of the drivers reported problems with split shifts, which in turn was associated with stress, poor health and negative psychosocial work conditions. More research is needed to understand the individual and organizational determinants of tolerance to split shifts.
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