Effects of physical inactivity on stress, fatigue, health and risk of at-work road traffic accidents

Abstract Strategies to achieve ambitious targets for reducing road accidents (34) have largely focused on engineering and technological advancements, modifying occupational demands and, to a lesser extent, human factors. These include stress and psychological states; sleep, fatigue and alertness; and health status. Physical activity appears to influence all these human factors but has not previously been systematically considered as a direct or indirect risk factor for driver accidents. The paper provides an overview of how each of these human factors impacts on driver performance and risk of at-work road traffic accidents within an evidence-based framework and then examines how physical (in)activity may moderate and mediate these relationships. Finally, practical implications for worksite interventions are considered. The review aims to offer an evidence-base for the deployment of resources to promote physical activity, for stress management, facilitating sleep, reducing fatigue and enhancing alertness to enhance physical and psychological health among professional drivers.