Legal Implications of Fatigue in the Australian Transportation Industries

By Christopher Jones, Jillian Dorrian and Drew Dawson

Changes in workplaces have lead to increases in the incidence of fatigue and fatigue-related industries.

At the same time, there has been an increase in the scientific understanding of fatigue. This article discusses the OHS legislation and regulations that govern the road transport and aviation industries, and the way criminal and civil law addresses fatigue.

It is argued that as they stand, the laws that seek to regulate fatigue are inconsistent with each other and with current scientific understanding. Suggestions are presented to address these shortcomings, and a proposal is made to creat an offence of fatigued driving.

(Journal of Industrial Relations. vol. 45, no. 3, September 2003)