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Volpe Center Highlights - March/April 2004

Safety

Focus | Workshops | New Role for Dr. Richard R. John | Safety
Mobility | Global Connectivity | Environmental Stewardship | Security
Organizational Excellence | Highlighting Volpe Experts | Awards
Published and Presented

Developing Tools to Manage Operator Fatigue

Operator fatigue is a critical safety issue that cuts across all modes and operations in the transportation industry. Fatigue may produce physical and mental decrements in alertness, vigilance, and decision making that can increase the risk of human error and result in fatalities and injuries. However, the incidence of fatigue is underestimated in virtually every transportation mode because it is hard to quantify and measure. Accordingly, a DOT initiative is bringing together the expertise of government, industry, and labor to create tools to aid in understanding and managing operator fatigue.

Every day, transportation operators and managers must cope with unusual and difficult work schedules and the reality of operator fatigue. Recognizing that fatigue management requires major changes in both organizational culture and operator behavior, DOT modal administrations have joined together to start a research initiative focused on these challenges -- the DOT Operator Fatigue Management (OFM) Program. The Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), the Volpe Center's parent agency, manages the OFM Program under the auspices of the DOT's Human Factors Coordinating Committee. Dr. Stephen Popkin of Volpe's Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division is co-chair of the OFM Program.

The OFM Program executed four public-private partnerships to develop non-prescriptive tools for operator fatigue management, with the intent that these tools are to be used by industry. As described below, the tools are in various stages of development. Representatives of industry and labor are involved in the planning and field-testing stages of development, and many commercial carriers and government agencies are poised to use these tools as they become available. As they are completed, the tools are made available to the public at http://scitech.dot.gov/research/human/.

• Work Schedule Representation and Analysis Software (Ximes GmbH) A software tool to help managers and schedulers design and objectively evaluate ergonomic work schedules that promote on-duty alertness. Version 1 of this tool is complete.
• Business Case Development Tool Suite (Temple University) A documented methodology, and supporting analytical tools, to help company safety managers build a business case to gain support from senior management for fatigue management activities. This tool is in development.
• Fatigue Model Validation Procedure (SAIC) A formalized procedure for validating the output of fatigue modeling tools that are being tailored for transportation applications. This ongoing project is currently being evaluated for the railroad industry.
• Fatigue Management Reference Guide (Battelle Memorial Laboratories) A compendium of current science and practical information on approaches to fatigue management and mitigation in the transportation enterprise. This tool is complete.

The Fatigue Management Reference Guide, the OFM Program's most recently completed tool, was finalized in January 2004 at a special meeting facilitated by Dr. Stephen Popkin of Volpe's Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division, who worked with project representatives from both the DOT and the Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Donald Sussman, Chief of the Division, also contributed to this project. The first such cross-modal program developed specifically for human fatigue in transportation, it incorporates input from more than 23 industry stakeholders, and included a 50 percent cost-share from the awardees and the industry that will use these tools.

Driver fatigue can contribute to commercial motor vehicle crashes. The Volpe Center supports the FMCSA's enforcement of the new Hours-of-Service rule, which will help ensure that commercial drivers get an appropriate amount of rest. Revised Hours-of-Service Regulations In 1995, Congress, concerned about the effect of fatigue as a contributing factor in commercial motor vehicle crashes, directed the FMCSA to begin a rulemaking to increase driver alertness and reduce fatigue-related incidents. During the rulemaking process, the FMCSA analyzed the scientific research, convened expert panels, held hearings and roundtable discussions, and reviewed more than 53,000 individual comments submitted. In April 2003, FMCSA issued the first significant revision to the hours-of-service regulations in more than 60 years; the new regulation went into effect on January 4, 2004. The new regulations provide an increased opportunity for drivers to obtain necessary rest and restorative sleep, and at the same time reflect operational realities of motor carrier transportation. (Source: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/Home_ Files/revised_hos.asp)

Supporting the Hours-of-Service Rule with Vital Information Systems (FMCSA)

The mission of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. In support of its safety mandate, FMCSA develops and employs information technology (IT) data collection and analysis systems to enable data-driven enforcement of federal safety regulations. These systems allow the agency to focus on higher risk carriers when enforcing the safety regulations; partner with state and commercial stakeholders; and provide factual and educational messages to carriers, commercial drivers, and the public. Volpe's Surface Transportation Information Systems Division is the FMCSA's primary IT strategic partner. The Division aids the FMCSA in the development, enhancement, and operation (including user technical support) of safety information systems that support its safety mandate.

The recent revision of the new hours-of-service regulations (see sidebar) provides an excellent example of the Division's ongoing support to FMCSA. The success of FMCSA's enforcement and education operations for the new rule depends in large part on reliable, up-to-date, safety information systems. In the months preceding the compliance date of January 4, 2004, a team from the Division worked with FMCSA to ensure a smooth implementation of the new regulations into existing FMCSA IT systems.

Three information systems that the Volpe Center operates and maintains for FMCSA required upgrading to accurately capture and reflect this new motor carrier-related safety data: the Enforcement Management

Information System, the Motor Carrier Management Information System, and the FMCSA Safety Network system. In the fall of 2003, Volpe began planning the implementation of changes necessary to enable these systems to accept and process information related to the new regulations, and to upload it to other systems. The rapid implementation of the new requirements was particularly challenging because all related systems had to be able to distinguish between different regulation-specific violations with the same identifiers, a situation never encountered before. Nevertheless, the systems were ready and deployed in time for use on the compliance date.

The Volpe team was led by Mr. Bob Berk and Mr. Buck Baley of the Surface Transportation Information Systems Division, and supported by staff from Computer Science Corp., a Volpe Center on-site contractor.

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