The TWU Safety Seminar held a successful event at Moonee Valley Racecourse on Tuesday 28th July 2009, centred on Transport Safety @ Work.
Optalert had a booth at the seminar, where a lot of interest was generated due to concerns about the importance of drowsiness and people learnt more about the Optalert Vehicle System and the enhancements being made over the upcoming months.
The day consisted of some excellent presentations.
The Hon. Tim Pallas Minister for Roads & Ports spoke about the Healthbreak screening program 2005-2007, an initiative where 11,902 workers were screened with the following outcomes; 43% suffered from poor sleep and 24% suffered from high sleep apnoea.
Dr. Charles Mercier-Guyon International Road Safety & Medical Expert from France gave an interesting insight into the importance of better understanding the dangers of speed, alcohol, fatigue, and vigilance. It was insightful about his experience with road fatalities in France, where over the past 12 months the reduction of fatalities has halved and his experience with testing cyclists for drugs at the Tour De France.
Ross Pilkington from Worksafe Victoria spoke about Worksafe Victoria’s main focus – ‘Fitness for Work’ and stressed the importance that all transport operators & drivers can make a difference, the safety of workers is a top priority, and the culture of the industry needs to change through; More effective communication, Changing the differences between management & workers, Eliminate the ‘cowboy’ approach by some drivers and Make money in a ‘safe way’.
Dr. Philip Swann from Vic Roads spoke about drowsiness and the importance of a quality sleep; where quality sleep is broken into two elements; The brains need for sleep and Circadian rhythm (good nutrition, exercise, quality sleep)
It was interesting to hear about the concerns of drivers suffering from a micro sleep and a fatigue management mechanism to alert drivers about the onset of drowsiness could be ‘Optalert’.
To conclude the presentations Ted Whitten Jnr from the EJ Witten Foundation spoke about men’s health and the importance of having a regular check-up to avoid the risk of getting prostate cancer, whilst Robert Harvey Assistant Coach of Carlton Football Club gave an interesting presentation on the ‘Success through Leadership and Teamwork’.
