Driver Medicals

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There are minimum standardized requirements that must be performed on all personnel. Similar to the aviation industry, the aim is to detect latent diseases, physical deficiencies and other medical conditions, in the driver or pilot that may put the company at risk, in the event of a serious accident.

This is especially valid where the cause of the accident was a preventable medical condition, which may come to light after the fact, eg.  Diabetic falling asleep behind the wheel.

The Medical Practitioner must be qualified to perform general health assessments, and must be an accredited and qualified Occupational Health Medical Practitioner.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tests are conducted?

The minimum requirements for the examination of Heavy Duty drivers is as follows :

  • History assessment, including family history, habits and pastimes, past medical and surgical history, etc.
  • General Physical Medical Examination- of all systems.
  • Body mass index evaluation
  • Blood Pressure
  • Heart Rate
  • SpO2 – Blood oxygen concentration measuring
  • Lung Function – Peak Expiratory Flow
  • Electrocardiogram ( ECG) test
  • Neurological tests including reflexes and Romberg
  • Urinary analysis and Urine Cannabis detection
  • Eye test – visual acuity, colour vision, night vision and depth perception.
  • General observation and detection of behavioral and psycho-social problems.

What happens when a driver is declared unfit?

After all tests have been performed, an overall assessment of whether the drive is fit, is made, and he or she is certified FIT for a period of six months or a year, or is deemed UNFIT, whereby the driver will be referred for remedial treatment, and re-assessed as soon as possible. These patients will be monitored with respect to their illness, six monthly, and random tests may be performed at irregular intervals, at the depots, by the safety personnel and transmitted to me. Eg. Diabetic or Hypertensive to monitor compliance with medication.