The Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd (PBPL) and the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA Ltd) recently commenced a twelve-month pilot of the new ‘SmartCap’ technology as part of the two-year Heavy Vehicle Safety Around Ports project.
SmartCap is a wearable technology that measures fatigue. Specifically, it is a headband mounted into a cap that measures changes in a person’s electroencephalogram (or EEG – which measures electrical activity in the brain) and provides accurate measurements of alertness in real-time to operators and drivers.
The Heavy Vehicle Safety Around Ports project has identified fatigue as a key safety issue to address – while a significant issue for all road users, it is also a workplace safety issue for road transport operators. The Port of Brisbane’s roads have a high number of heavy vehicles using their network, making it an ideal location for the trial. The pilot is seen as an opportunity for the broader port community to reinforce its commitment in helping to make Brisbane Australia’s safest port. Its learnings will be shared with other Australian ports.
Six transport companies – with a total of 60 drivers – are participating in the pilot. The transport companies are: Australian Container Freight Service (ACFS), Buccini Transport, Chalmers Industries, Daryl Dickenson Transport, South East Queensland Hauliers, and Visa Global Logistics.
The project received $302,000 in funding under the NHVR’s 2018-19 Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative Fund, supported by the Federal Government. Next year, as part of the two-year project, a health and wellbeing campaign will also be rolled out across the port precinct.
