Who should we believe?

Two separate surveys released in recent months appear to contradict each other with the results contrasting strongly in terms of the pressure trucking people are under when going about their work.

The Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) have released their National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance (NHEWS) survey and the results appear to be good news. The transport and storage industry workers surveyed included 33% drivers but did not reflect the long hours and pressure from consignors highlighted by a survey earlier in the year.

The survey, by the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research was part of a project, seeking to improve employers understanding of the value of having healthy employees. Truck drivers in New South Wales were surveyed for the project with funding coming from the National Transport Commission, the Transport Workers Union and the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund.

The truck drivers said they were working an average of 62 hours per week and 6.3% were reported to work over 100 hours each week. Over 17% of survey respondents reported mental health symptoms, with 3.4% of the total suffering from all three major mental health symptoms, depression, anxiety and stress.

However, when approached for the NHEWS survey the average hours worked per week was said to be just over 41 per week and only 14% said they were pressured to work long hours. Even more surprisingly, only 10% said they were given unachievable deadlines.

These two sets of results are clearly incompatible and anyone with a close link to the transport industry is going to regard the mental health survey as ringing more true, confirming anecdotal evidence garnered out on the road.

More worryingly, it is likely the NHEWS survey is the more likely to influence any policy devlopment. It is a good news story telling us industry is doing something about the pressure drivers are under.

Yet again, nothing is going to be done and the truckies of Australia are going to feel even more isolated and ignored while the primary contractors, the big companies, get a pat on the back for improving working conditions.

Blissful ignorance for the lawmakers, a recipe for disaster on Australia’s roads and more work for the admirable Transhelp Foundation trying to help those on the road cope with the ongoing problems.