Drivers and Operators

Commercial drivers, heavy equipment operators, and process control operators are typically termed safety-sensitive occupations, and are often subject to medical fitness standards in order for a regulator or employer to meet their ‘duty of care’ under law.

These occupations can be characterized in terms of:
* Sensory demands – vision, hearing, balance, and tactile sensation
* Cognitive demands – alertness, reaction time, decision-making
* Motor demands – hand and foot controls, postural tolerance, agility and lifting
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Key challenges in the development of a medical fitness program for drivers and operators are to:

* Identify which existing medical standard(s) are most applicable to the job and what medical conditions may compromise safe performance of the job
* Develop or adopt a medical assessment protocol (health questionnaires, physical examination, testing) that is relevant, valid, and reliable
* fully inform workers of the nature and outcomes of the assessment
* determine what work limitations or restrictions can be accommodated in the job
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Reference Article
Double US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica -- Review of Health Effects Literature and Preliminary Quantitative Risk Assessment [2010]
UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Health surveillance in silica exposed workers. [2010]

Lappi VG et al. Silica exposure and silicosis in Alberta, Canada. J Occup Environ Med. 2014 Oct;56 Suppl 10:S35-9.

American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). Recommendations for a Threshold Limit Value – Crystalline Silica. [2010]

US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica. [2002]

Dahmann et al. Assessment of exposure in epidemiological studies: the example of silica dust. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (2008) 18, 452–461
Raymond LW and Wintermeyer S. Medical Surveillance of Workers Exposed to Crystalline Silica. JOEM (2006) 48;1 95-101
UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Variability in fibrogenic potency and exposure-response relationships for silicosis. EH75/4
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