Lim, S. M., & Chia, S. E. (2015). The prevalence of fatigue and associated health and safety risk factors among taxi drivers in Singapore. Singapore Medical Journal, 92–97. https://doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2014169
This article studies the effects of health conditions on taxi drivers in Singapore, and the risk factors associated with fatigue driving. A survey was conducted on 255 taxi drivers in a local taxi company, requiring the participants to evaluate their fatigue level daily using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. From the survey and past statistics obtained from the Department of Statistics, Lim and Chia observed that fatigue had a significant correlation with poor quality of sleep, other part-time jobs, consumption of more than 3 cups of coffees, and driving more than 10 hours a day. It was also mentioned that due to the irregular schedules and long driving hours, participants are more likely to develop complicated medical conditions due to their “physically sedentary lifestyle”. Further research would be required to ascertain if the driver’s shift status would be considered as a risk factor. Lim and Chia then went on to conclude that the National Taxi Association and government agencies should discuss and implement countermeasures for fatigued driving, which may lead to better overall performance for drivers and a decrease in traffic accidents.
The article provides circumstantial information to substantiate the need to emphasize the driver’s health condition, as proposed in our research project. Lim and Chia noted that there might have been drivers that were undiagnosed, resulting in incomplete data entry. Depending on the age group, taxi drivers in Singapore are required by law to undergo a health check-up to ensure they are fit to drive with passengers onboard the vehicle. However, chronic diseases such as high cholesterol may not be detected by the systems. Thus, it is necessary to have countermeasures in place to monitor the driver’s health condition, which will prompt the driver when abnormalities are detected.
Reviewed for Jing Kai and Jin Han
Updated as of 1 December 2020
