| Traffic safety does not only depend on external factorsTraffic safety does not only depend on external factors such as the roadworthiness of vehicles, road surface and weather conditions. The high incidence of driver-related accidents on South Africa’s roads has prompted Thandile to pioneer and introduce a comprehensive assessment for drivers. This innovative process has been successfully applied by major fleet owners in the South African bus and freight industries to employ medically fit drivers and to minimise medical risk in driver fitness.
Thandile offers driver medical fitness testing throughout South Africa, delivered through a national network of accredited medical doctors. The doctors receive accredited training to evaluate driver fitness and the entire assessment process is standardised.
Thandile’s driver medical assessments are used as part of the driver recruitment process, as well as on-going medical fitness monitoring. Not only is the roadworthiness of a vehicle under the direct control and responsibility of fleet operators, but also the “medworthiness” of their drivers. Due to the highly specialised nature of assessing driver health and the responsibility that goes with it, fleet operators outsource their medical assessments to Thandile to obtain an independent, objective and expert clinical opinion. The driver fitness criteria used in this process were developed by Thandile in collaboration with the South African Society for Occupational Medicine (SASOM).
In 2009, Thandile was appointed to evaluate bus drivers needed to transport teams and spectators to and from the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup venues. More than 4000 medical evaluations were performed to enable the appointment of a fleet of drivers.
Driver medical assessments include:
- A detailed personal medical history, including lifestyle habits
- Occupational history
- Physical examination conducted by medical doctor to detect risk factors such as uncontrolled blood pressure, neurological abnormalities, obesity, heart murmurs and asthma.
- Full stress electrocardiogram (ECG)
- Lung function testing
- Vision screening
- Hearing test
- Chest X-rays
In a driver assessment study, Thandile found that 17% of a group of 580 drivers were permanently unfit to drive, despite all of them having valid PrDPs (professional driving permits).
Reasons for medical unfitness were:
- Hypertension (15%)
- Cardiovascular disorders (11.2%)
- Neurological disorders (10%)
- Respiratory disorders (8%)
- Diabetes mellitus (3.5%)
- Visual impairment (2.2%)
- Psychiatric disorders (1.2%)
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