Danish National Research Centre for the Working Environment

Norwegian National Institute of Occupational Health

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health

Turnover of professional drivers

Author(s): Ann-Lis Backman and Erkki Järvinen
Source: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, Vol. 9, No. 1 (February 1983), pp.
36-41
Published by: the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health , the Finnish Institute
of Occupational Health , the Danish National Research Centre for the Working Environment ,
and the Norwegian National Institute of Occupational Health
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40964993
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Scandj workenvironhealth9 (1983)36-41

Turnover of professional drivers

by Ann-Lls Backman, MD, ErkkiJarvinen,MSc1

BACKMANA-L,JARVTNENE. Turnoverofprofessional drivers.Scandj workenviron

health9 (1983)36-41. The aspects of turnoverwere studiedin a cohortof 1,597male
driverswho had joined the tradeunionbetween1967and 1969and who lived in six
urban municipalitiesin differentpartsof the country.The retrospective studycom-
prisedtheperiodfrom1969to 1979.At theend ofthisperiod,1.5% ofthecohortcould
not be traced,3 % were livingabroad,and 5 % were dead. An inquiryconcerning
occupationsince 1969was sentto 1,453drivers(91 % ofthecohort).In all, 1,156drivers
responded(80 %). A totalof 69 % of the subjectswho answeredthe questionswas
stillemployedas driversin 1979,24 % had turnedto someothertrade,7 % had retired,
and less than 1 % reportedthattheywereout of work.The changeswithinthe trade
favoredbus driving.The mostcommonreasonsforchangingworkwere salary,the
heavinessandirregularityofthework,andhealth.Themajorcause ofdeathwasaccidents
and otherexternalcauses,as could be expectedin view of the drivers'comparatively
youngage in 1969(meanage 29 years).
Key terms:accidents,cohort,inquiry,retrospective
study.

In about 1975 the transportation trade In 1979-1980a studyon thehealth,work

unions in the Scandinavian countries conditions,and turnoverof professional
startedtopayaddedattention tothehealth driverswas carriedout at the FinnishIn-
conditionsof professionaldrivers.As a stituteof Occupational Health (1). The
resultstudies concerningthe healthand targetgroupswerelocal bus drivers, truck
work conditionsof professionaldrivers drivers,stock deliverydrivers,and tank
were initiated in Denmark, Norway, truckdrivers,all ofwhomweremembers
Sweden,and Finland.In Denmarkthecon- ofthe FinnishTransportWorkers'Union.
ditionsofbus driverswereinvestigated (2).
Thisinvestigation includeda cohortstudy The work conditionswere clarifiedby
on turnover,morbidity,and mortalitymeansofan inquiry.The driversinthefive
amongbus driversduring1972-1977.The about groups expressed differentcomplaints
showed that the older bus drivers the work conditions.The stock
study
usually left the occupation because of delivery drivers,forinstance,complained
mostly about the loading and unloading
illness, but the youngerones for other
reasons. Cardiovasculardisease was the conditionsand aboutdraftand cold.They,
mostcommonillnesscausingearlyretire- as well as the truck drivers,frequently
mentamongdriversmorethan50 yearsof movedheavyburdens.The bus drivers, the
local bus drivers in particular,
complained
age. Death fromcoronaryheart disease
was morecommonamongbus driversin mostlyabout traffic congestionand tight
schedules. It seemed thattheworkofthe
Copenhagenthanamongotheremployed truck drivers and the stock delivery
in
males the same age groups.A mortality
driverswas physicallyheavy,whereasthe
studyfromtheUnitedStatesalso reported bus drivers
cardiovasculardisease as the majorcause experienced considerable
of deathamongtruckdrivers(3). mental strain. It was thoughtthattheturn-
over study could indicatewhat occupa-
1 Instituteof Occupational tions within the trade were the most
Health,Helsinki,favoredby the drivers.
Finland.
Reprintrequeststo: Dr A-L BackmanInstitute Furthermore,
the data fromthe health
ofOccupationalHealth,Haartmaninkatu 1, SF- surveysuggesteda health-baseddropout
00290Helsinki29,Finland. fromthe tradebecause the driversin the

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age group of 45-54 yearswere healthier |hELSINK||I TURKU I I PORI I ItAMPEReI I KUOPIO I I OULUI
thantheyoungerdrivers.It seemedlikely
thatdriverswithhealthproblemshad left
the occupation.The turnoverstudycould
possiblyexplain the reasons forleaving
thetradeand - in cases withillnessas the
reason- could clarifywhatdiseases most BUS DRIVER, STOCK
DELIVERY DRIVER,
commonlycause turnoveramongdrivers. |
TRUCK DRIVER OR
TANK TRUCK DRIVER
Because ofthe cross-sectionalnatureof . 1 . I
the healthand workinvestigation, an ad- JOINED THE UNION
IN 1967 - 1969 | |
JOINED THE UNION
IN 1967 - 1972 |
ditional retrospectivecohort study con- i i
cerningthereasonsaffecting occupational |
STILL AT THE SAME WORK
IN 1979
turnoverwas considerednecessary.The I
aims of the turnoverprojectwerethe in- |
AGED 30 - 55 IN 1979

vestigationof those factorswhich affect I ENTERPRISE

occupationalturnover and thecomparison | =r5 EMPLOYEES
of these factorswith the resultsof the
study on health and work conditions &
amongdrivers. TURNOVER STUDY K
=
VER WO^CoSSmoEs
=
N = 1, 530 N 67 N 566

Fig 1. Admittancecriteriaforthe turnoverstudy,

Material
The aspectsofturnoverwerestudiedin a
cohortof1,597maledriverswhojoinedthe
Finnish TransportWorkers'Union be-
tween1967and 1969and livedin six urban
municipalitiesin differentparts of the
country.Because ofvariousclimaticcon-
ditionsin differentpartsofFinland(forin-
stance,moresnow and colder wintersin
thenorthern and easternpartsofthecoun-
try),the localitieswere selectedto repre-
sentthe south(Helsinki),thenorth(Oulu),
the west (Turkuand Pori),the east (Kuo-
pio),and themiddleparts(Tampere)ofthe
country.Memberswho had notworkedat
all as professionaldriversor had done so
onlya shorttime(2-3 months)were not
included.
The follow-upcomprised the period
from1969to 1979.At the time of the in-
quiry (1980-1981) 1,453 subjects of the
cohortcould be contacted,72 had died,
and 1 had been proclaimeddead. There
were71 personswho could notbe reached
(47 livingabroad and 24 untraceable).All
71 wereexcludedfromthe study.In 1969,
the mean age of the cohortwas 29 (range
19-63) years,and the cohortmainlyin-
cluded driversaged 20-39 years.
The admittancecriteriafortheturnover
study,as well as thecriteriaforthehealth
screeningand the inquiryconcerningthe
work conditionsof professionaldrivers,
are depictedin fig1.Therewere67 drivers
who participatedin bothinvestigations.
the healthscreening,and the inquiryconcerning
the workconditionsof professionaldrivers.
Methods
The turnover datawerecollectedbymeans
of a postal inquiry.The followingques-
tionswereasked:
Whatwork did you do when you joined
thetradeunion?
Whatworkhave you done in 1969-1979?
If you have changedwork,whatwerethe
reasons?
If you have retired,
was it because ofyour
age or as a consequenceofsomediseaseor
because of disabilityfollowingsome ac-
cident?
If you changedworkforhealthreasonsor
retiredbecause of disability,
whichofthe
followingdiseases was the cause: back
trouble, rheumatic complaints, heart
disease, high blood pressure, stomach
trouble, chronic bronchitis,some skin
affection,disabilityfollowingsome acci-
dent,some otherdisease,what?
The first500 questionnaires
weremailed
in October1980to thosedriverswho were
still membersof the Union and whose
addressestherefore were known.The re-
mainingdriverswere tracedthroughdif-
ferentpopulationregisters,and the last
questionnaireswere sent in August1981.

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The inquirywentto 1,453drivers.Halfof had become bus drivers.In 1969,35 %
them respondedwithina month.A re- (N = 391) ofthe subjectsin the fivetarget
minderwas mailed a monthlaterto the groups(N = 1,102)were bus drivers,but,
driverswhohad notanswered.In all, 1,156 among the 724 driversfromthe same
drivers(80 %) responded.The resultscon- groupswho,in 1979,stillremainedin the
cerningturnover and retirement are based trade,the proportionof bus drivershad
on the answersgivenby the drivers.The increasedto 46 % (N = 334).The younger
informationconcerningthe causes of men changed to bus drivingmore often
deathwas acquiredfromdeathcertificatesthan the older ones. The middle-aged
registeredin the CentralStatisticalOffice drivers,on the other hand, tended to
of Finland.The expectedvalues of death changeto truckdriving, to graveland soil
causes are based on sex- and age-specific transportin particular(fig2). Only 16 %
proportionsof the generalpopulationin of the bus driversand 18 % of the truck
1975. driversengaged in graveland soil trans-
porthad leftthetrade.The corresponding
Results rates forthe othertargetgroupswere24-
32 % (table 1).
Duringthe period 1969-1979,43 % (N = The driverswho had leftthe tradehad
489)ofthe 1,136driverswho answeredthe frequently goneto a typeofworkin which
appropriate questionshad eitherbeen per- theywere still in touch with drivingor
forming thesame taskall thetimeor they withmotorvehicles.Fourteenpercentof
had returnedto it aftera shortperiodin the driverswho had changedjobs were
some otherjob. In all, 26 % (N = 294) had still engaged in transportation, eitheras
changedtaskswithinthetrade,24 % (N = independententrepreneurs or as supervi-
268) had turnedto some othertrade,7 % sors.Thejob had oftenbeen changedfora
(N = 76) had retired,and less than 1 % betterposition.Some driverswere work-
(N = 9) reportedthat they were out of ing as service stationattendants.About
work. 6 % wereoperatingliftingcranes,digging
Almost60 % of the 391 men who had machines, ortractors.
Therewerealso some
been bus driversin 1969 were still bus former driverswho werecarsalesmenand
driversten yearslater,but in 1979onlya drivinginstructors. About 13 % had gone
thirdof the otherdriverswere still per- tothemetalindustry, and 10% werework-
forming thesame taskas in 1969(table 1). ing as fitters,either as motor vehicle
In all, 36 % (N = 106) of the 294 drivers mechanics,electricalfitters, or radio and
who had changedtasks withinthe trade televisionmechanics.The answerscorn-

Table 1. Turnoverdistribution
(%) in fivedrivergroups.

Task in 1969
Truckdriving
Task in 1979 Truckdriving Stock Tank truck in graveland Bus driving
(N = 227) delivery driving soil transport (N = 391)
(N = 342) (N = 58) (N = 84)
Same as in 1969 39 33 30 35 59
Changedto truckdriving • 4 10 3 1
Changed to stock delivery 3-562
Changedto tanktruck -
driving 7 1-6
Changed to truckdriving
in graveland soil transport 7 6 10 7
Changed to bus driving 14 15 3 24
Changed to otherdriving 15 7 3 5
Changedto anothertrade 24 32 29 18 16
Unemployed - 1 - 1 1
Retired 4 4 5 3 9
Total 100 100 100 100 100

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prised almost60 occupationsfrommore drivers, 5 weredrivingtrucksin graveland
than30 trades. soil transport,and the remaining8 had
changedto taxidriving, tanktruckdriving
and stock delivery.Twelve bus drivers
Reasonsforchangingwork had changedworkforhealthreasons.Sev-
en ofthesemenhad leftthetradeand two
In all, 472 driverstold theirreasons for had returnedto bus drivingaftertrying
changing work. The number included otherworkinbetween.The resultssuggest
those driverswho had temporarilyhad thatthe driversbelievedbus drivingto be
otherjobs but had returnedto theirorig- theleastunhealthy, as wellas thephysical-
inal task.The mostcommonreasonswere ly lightest,task within the trade. Bus
unsatisfactory salary(31 %), theheaviness driverswho consideredtheir work un-
of the work(20 %), the irregularity of the favorableto health or too heavy usually
workhours (14 %), and health(12 %). Driv- sought employmentoutside the trans-
ers who had changedto some othertrade portationtrade.The mostcommonhealth
had in 39 % of the cases decidedto do so reason was back trouble; of the 1,073
foreconomicreasons,and 29 % ofthedriv- driverswho answeredthe question con-
ers who had changed tasks withinthe cerning diseases, 12 % reported back
tradehad done it fora highersalary.Most symptoms.It is to be notedthatonly2 %
oftheyoungerdriverswho did notreturn mentionedheartdisease.
to theiroriginalworkput economicrea- The answersshowedthat76 drivershad
sonsfirst. The olderdrivers, however,con- retired,10 because ofold age, 56 as a con-
sideredsalaryto be less importantthan sequence of some named disease,and 10
healthfactors(table 2). because of disabilityfollowingsome ac-
Therewere91 driverswho had changed cident.The reasons for early retirement
work because they found their original were mostlycardiovasculardiseases (29
tasktoo demandingphysically.Morethan cases) and back trouble (18 cases). The
halfof themhad leftthe tradeand found
otheroccupations,and morethan a fifth
had becomebus drivers.Amongthosewho age Percent of
group
consideredtheworktoo heavywere15bus CHANGED
drivers,seven of whomhad leftthe trade 20~ - TO BUS DRIVING
and threeof whom had triedotherjobs
and laterreturnedto bus driving.The an-
swers suggested that the drivers con-
sideredbus drivingthephysicallylightest "CHANGED
TO TRUCK DRIVING
taskwithinthe trade. 1
In all, 55 drivershad changedjobs for 0 // ,
25-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-64
healthreasons.Of them 25 had leftthe Age in 1979
trade,4 had retiredbecause of ill health, Fig 2. Age-specific percentages of drivers who
6 had returned to theiroriginalworkafter had changed to bus driving and to truck driving
temporarychanges, 7 had become bus in gravel and soil transport.

Table 2. The age-specific reasons for changing work.

Age (years) on 31 December 1979

<34 35-39 40-44 45-49 ^50
Reason for changing work (N = 105) (N = 137) (N = 114) (N = 48) (N = 40)
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%)

Salary 41 35 26 21 7
Heaviness of work 16 20 20 15 35
Irregularityof work 17 17 10 19 7
Health 6 10 15 23 20
Other 21 19 28 22 30

Total 100 100 100 100 100

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most common cardiovascular diseases Discussion
mentionedwere hypertension and coro-
naryheartdisease. At theend ofthefollow-upperiodat least
half of the cohortwas still employedas
drivers.A fourthof the subjects who
Causes ofdeath answeredthequestionnairehad turnedto
Duringthe period 1967-1980,in spite of othertrades.One-third ofthe driverswho
the comparatively youngages of the men had changed work had done so foreco-
in the cohort,72 of the drivershad died. nomic reasons.This was more oftenthe
The most commoncauses of death were reasonwhena workerchangedto a differ-
accidents and other externalcauses (37 ent occupation than when he changed
drivers),cardiovasculardiseases (19 driv- tasks withinthe trade.Seven percentof
ers), and tumors(10 drivers).In all, 26 the driverswho answeredthe question-
driversdied under the age of 40. The naire had retiredbecause of permanent
driverswho died of tumorsor of cardio- disability.This rate is lowerthan thatof
vasculardisease were all at least 40 years Finnishconcretereinforcement workers,
of age however.Therewere fourcases of theircorresponding figurebeing 12 % in
lung cancer among the ten deaths from fiveyears(4).
tumors. Drivers who died of external The drivers who changed work for
causes were usually(86 %) youngerthan healthreasonsor because theyfoundtheir
45 yearsof age. Trafficaccidentswerere- work too heavy usually turnedto other
sponsibleforten deaths,of which three occupations outsidethetrade,but,ifthey
had occurredduringthe drivers'leisure stayed in the trade, the most common
timeand seven duringworkhours.Death choice was bus driving.Bus driversre-
fromcardiovascular disease was less com- mained at their originaltask more often
mon than among the correspondingage thanotherdriversand, iftheydecided to
groupsin thegeneralpopulation(table3). change,oftenleftthe trade.Briefly,the
The ratesof accidents and other external drivers seemed to find bus drivingthe
causes ofdeath,especiallythoseoftrafficeasiestand leastunhealthy taskwithinthe
accidentsand suicide, were higherthan trade and tended to change over to this
mightbe expectedin view ofthe rates of task. Yet the resultsfrom the inquirycon-
thegeneralpopulation(table4). cerningwork conditions(1) showed that
bus driversin particularexperiencedcon-
siderablementalstrain.Consequentlythe
Table 3. The most common causes of death and driverstendedto changefromphysically
their expected estimates. heavy work to a physicallylight but
mentallymoredemandingtask.The mid-
Observed Expected dle-aged driversseemedhoweverto prefer
Cause of death
N % N % graveland soil transport. The explanation
is probablythatinthistasktheoperating is
Tumors 10 14 10.6 15 highlyautomaticand does not demand
Cardiovascular physicalstrengthand, besides, probably
diseases 19 26 27.4 38 involvesless mentalstrainthanbus driv-
External causes 37 51 23.8 33
Other 6 9 10.3 14 ing.
In Finlandthe prospectivedriverhas to
Total 72 100 72.0 100
pass a healthexaminationbeforehe can
geta drivinglicense.Thusthereis a health-
Table 4. External causes of death and their ex- based selectionin the beginningof the
pected estimates. workwhichpreventsapplicantswithse-
vere diseases fromenteringthe occupa-
Observed Expected tion. Later on some of the driversmay
Cause of death
N % N % develop symptomsof disease which,
if
serious enough, again causes a health-
Trafficaccidents 10 14 5.2 7 based dropout,leavingonlydriverswith
Suicide 15 21 7.5 11 good physical health in the trade. The
Other external
15
healthsurvey(1) suggesteda health-based
causes 12 16 11.1
selectionamongdrivers,because the men

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in the age group 45-54 years seemed the healthscreeningand the inquirycon-
healthierthan the youngerones (30-44 cerningtheworkconditionsofprofession-
yearsof age). al drivers.
Cardiovasculardisease was the most
commonreason forearlyretirement, but References
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on theotherhand,less commonamongthe 1. BackmanA-L,JarvinenE, Lindberg S, Sep-
M. Autonkuljet-
driversthan among the pala P, Videman T, Lepisto
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drivers].
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Whitta-Jorgensen A. Buschaufforersar-
mors. bejdsmiljo 1. En undersogelseaf helbred
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and more common bus drivers:An investigationconcerning
category was among the healthand well-beingof bus driversin
driversthan among the generalpopula- Copenhagen,Odenseand Aarhus].Institute
tion.Obviouslythereis reasonto consider for Social Medicine,Universityof Copen-
to
ways improve traffic The
safety. high hagen,Copenhagen1980.360p. (Publikation
nr 11).
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partlybe a consequence of the mental ionizedtruckdrivers.Joccup med20(1978):
strainconnectedwithtransportation work, 10,677-682.
butthepresentstudydoes notoffer an ade- 4. RiihimakiH, HanninenK, Luopajarvi T,
MattssonT, WarisP, Wickstrom G, Zitting
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driverswas common,buttheratesdid not vuoden seuranta[Study of concreterein-
differfromthatexpectedforthe general forcement workersand maintenancehouse
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easier occupations,especiallywhen their
healthwas failing.The resultswere,on the
whole, consistentwith the resultsfrom Receivedforpublication:8 November1982

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