THE AUSTRALIAN Trucking Association says truck drivers should be screened for depression as part of medical checks for their driver’s licence, TruckSafe or fatigue accreditation.
The ATA made this suggestion as part of its submission to the National Transport Commission’s review of the medical standards used to carry out the checks.
According to the ATA, depression is a common medical condition, and statistics have shown drivers with mild depression are more than twice as likely to have an accident or near miss as drivers who do not have depression.
By extension, drivers with very severe depression are almost six times more likely to have an accident or near miss.
The ATA has taken as its model the K10 questionnaire used in the medical standard for safety critical rail workers.
The K10 questionnaire asks ten questions about the applicant’s feelings over the last four months. The ATA says it can be easily incorporated into the questionnaire that drivers are already asked to fill out.
Truck drivers whose questionnaire results indicate depression should be referred for help, but the ATA says these drivers should continue to hold their licence without restrictions.