In its ongoing effort to improve employee safety through behavioral change, NMS has teamed with SmartCap to improve driver safety by tracking driver fatigue. Driver fatigue is a major cause of road accidents that result in serious injury and death. We’ve all been on the road when suddenly we realize we don’t remember the last section of the highway we just drove past, or that feeling when we let our eyes rest just “a little bit.” SmartCap helps drivers be aware of when those lapses occur.
In this innovative pilot program, the NMS Health, Safety, Security & Environment (HSSE) team is working with employees on the BP, Alyeska and ENI North Slope contracts to evaluate their fatigue when driving. Craig Clemens, vice president of HSSE explained how the program works: “Employees wear the specialized cap when driving during their normal work day. Through alerts, reports and profiles, each user of the SmartCap learns when they are at risk and the times of the day that their risk is greatest. We are working with SmartCap to develop techniques to effectively manage fatigue in a way that ensures our workforce, our clients, our customers and the areas we work are safe.”
Although current use of the cap is focused on driver fatigue, SmartCap can be used to evaluate other types of higher-risk practices, including working with heavy machinery and practicing forms of repetitive labor.
Matt Pawlak, the safety manager responsible for implementing the program, said, “After monitoring our SmartCap usage, I realized that the program gave me the data to build a driver fatigue profile that is keeping our drivers informed when they are at risk and helping them to stay more alert when they are driving. Knowing we can help change behavior in a way that keeps people safe is really rewarding.”