Forthcoming Awake speaking engagements

News Update
15/04/2004

Consultants from Awake have been engaged to speak at the forthcoming conferences:

17th June - 'Best of the best' Brake Fleet Safety Forum Annual Conference 2004. Awake has been invited to address the conference on the subject of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, a potentially serious disorder in which breathing stops and starts during sleep, and which results in excessive daytime drowsiness. Research by Awake with professional truck drivers suggests that OSA is especially common in this group. Awake provides a screening and referral service for companies to ensure that those with the condition are quickly identified and receive effective treatment as soon as possible. For more information visit: www.brake.org.uk

6th October - Occupational Health Annual Conference Details TBC. Awake has been invited to speak about tiredness in the workplace, focusing on tiredness experienced by company car drivers. Unlike professional drivers, employees who use their car as part of their work are unregulated in the hours they can work or drive, and consequently frequently drive for long durations having already worked a full day. Increasingly, companies are recognising the safety risk that this represents. This presentation will discuss some of the solutions that Awake has provided to organisations who want to provide a safer working environment for company car drivers.

Recent speaking engagements:

20th April 2004 - Department for Transport Behavioural Studies Seminar, Esher. Our research consultants spoke about the Awake approach to Tackling fatigue in the workplace. The presentation highlighted the difficulties faced by professional drivers trying to cope with driver tiredness. Government advice, aimed at non-professional drivers, focuses on short term emergency solutions to tackle driver tiredness. Professional drivers, however, need long term solutions and much of the advice for regular drivers is unsuitable or insufficient for professionals. Drawing on Awake's experience of accident investigations where fatigue has been suspected as a contributory factor, our consultants explained how companies can put in place effective long term countermeasures to tackle the driver tiredness experienced by professional drivers.

21st April - BG Group Head Office, Reading - 'Work-Life Balance Month.' Awake gave a presentation to staff at the BG Head Office in Reading, to raise their awareness of Driver Tiredness. We gave presentations on this and related issues, showed films that Awake uses to highlight the dangers of driving while tired, and had staff on hand to answer employees' questions relating to sleep and fatigue.