BIS drivers raise concerns over fatigue glasses

• General News
• 17th July 2013

BIS truck drivers at Leonora and Leinster have complained of problems with being instructed by the company to wear a technological device called Optalert.

Optalert fatigue management glasses work by measuring the velocity of the operator’s eyelid 500 times a second using a tiny invisible LED built into the frame of the glasses.

BIS drivers had trialled the glasses last year but stopped wearing them after complaining of health and safety problems with the product.

The recent picture shows the swollen left eye of a BIS driver that was taken soon after he completed a shift wearing the glasses.

Drivers have complained of:

• Burning left eye
• Watering left eye
• Blurriness out of left eye (almost as though you looked directly into a bright light)
• Sand or sleep feeling in left eye
• Disorientation from prescription lenses
• Head aches
• Insomnia
• Blind spots from the bar in front of eye

The issue came to a head when long-term BIS driver Doug Winch was sacked after he pinned an email to his boss regarding the glasses on the depot notice board.

His email outlined drivers concerns with Optalert. It urged the company to reconsider its position on the system and advised it to seek legal advice.

The company maintained this was threatening behaviour and used it as a catalyst for dismissal.

A clear cut case of UNFAIR DISMISSAL in the TWU’s opinion.

The TWU held meetings with drivers in Leonora and Leinster and they all signed a petition which expressed concerns about the glasses.

This is an issue that will not go away. Not when the health and safety of drivers is involved.

There will be an update in the next edition of The Wheel.