Health, safety and bus drivers

A literature review shows that work-related health problems are prevalent in bus drivers. To structure investigations into whether this could be problematic for safety behaviour, a model is developed in which work stressors are linked to safety behaviour via a triad of “duty fitness” factors: psychophysiological stress response, sleep quantity/quality and health status. Analysis of survey responses in a sample of bus drivers in Norway with typical health outcomes, gives some support to this so-called Duty Fitness Model. Future research is recommended to perform a more robust test of the model, and act as a basis for longitudinal studies.