The commercial driver medical standards in Assessing Fitness to Drive should be expanded to include better screening for heart disease, diabetes and sleep disorders, the joint ATA and TruckSafe submission to the National Transport Commission on improving health screening for commercial vehicle drivers says.
The submission argues that the NTC should adopt a modified version of what the discussion paper calls option C, with the addition of:
- screening for illegal drug use
- changes to AFTD to protect the livelihood of drivers
- better information and education for doctors, employers and drivers
- measures to reduce the number and cost of medicals, including bulk billing for overnight sleep studies and a long term loan scheme for CPAP machines, and
- a non-regulatory health screening and health awareness campaign to be run by Healthy Heads in Trucks and Sheds. The campaign would include mental health awareness.