Driver Health & Wellness Moves Forward

The Association had a very productive meeting with Declan Allen, Assistant Head of Department of Management Studies, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and Dr. Mary Kinahan a Lecturer in Organisational Psychology in DIT. The EPDA representatives Barry Lyons and Walter Pisarnik,  presented the data  collected from the Long-Haul HGV and Coach Driver Survey. Both Declan and Dr. Kinahan were very impressed with the detail of the data and the combination of the completed questionnaires and the accompanying bio-metrics data. We had an opportunity to discuss the organisational issues with drivers and she was made some interesting observations and comments. So, that’s for another day.

The outcome of the meeting was that Dr. Kinahan is going to review the data with a view to publishing an academic paper and a white paper. The academic paper details the process and the results of the survey and is then submitted for peer review and would have the potential to be published in a journal. This gives the survey credibility as a body of work. People can refer to the document to support other bodies of work. The White Paper We sent all the digital file this morning to DIT and we were told that they will be back in two weeks with their findings

We were fortunate in that we had asked all the participating drivers to supply their names and contact details and to give permission to be contacted by a review group. This will allow the Doctor’s team to contact the participants and discuss the details of the questionnaires.

This is truly a very good initiative taken by the EPDA and a positive step in dealing with an area of the road transport industry that has been neglected in the view of the EPDA. We will keep you posted on any developments and we are very much looking forward to publishing our findings soon.
Again, a big thanks to all of those drivers who gave of their time to complete the health screening and the questionnaires and also to the dedicated EPDA volunteers who put in so much effort in organising and helping out with these projects.

Pictured Left to right:
​ Declan Allen Assistant Head of Department of  Management Studies DIT, Dr. Mary Kinahan Lecturer DIT, Barry Lyons Chariman EPDA, Walter Pisarnik Executive Committee EPDA