Deux années de travail pour le prix d'une

YLE en Finlande vient de publier les remarques d'un institut sur la sécurité routière. Les transporteurs routiers dépassent allègrement les durées journalières maximales de travail. Les dépassements conduisant à des journées de travail de 15 heures ne sont pas rares et les rédacteurs soulèvent les conséquences de la somnolence au volant des chauffeurs routiers transportant des produits dangereux.

Transport Workers Cram Two Years' of Work into One

Published 08.08.2007, 10.04 (updated 08.08.2007, 10.09)

Image: YLE

Inspections by occupational safety authorities find that employees in the transport sector are doing vastly more overtime work than the law permits.

The authorities for example found that some truck drivers have been on the road for as long as 15 hours on every working day of the year. This means that the number of hours worked in a single year is equal to two years' worth of driving.

"Overtime has always been a problem in terms of drivers' exceptionally long working hours. Overtime is often done without much thought. I have only encountered hours such as these among transport companies," says Jouni Kallioluoma, a lawyer at the Häme occupational safety district.

In information obtained by YLE Radio News, a case will come before the courts this autumn involving the driver of an Ikaalinen-based transport company, who worked 2,000 hours of overtime in a single year.

According to Jouni Kallioluoma, these numbers are sky-high as the legal overtime limit stands at 250 hours annually. On top of this, 80 additional hours can be worked with special permission.

"Some of these over-worked drivers are transporting dangerous substances, such as explosives and flammable liquids. It is terrible to think of what could happen when a driver falls sleepy at the wheel," says Jouni Kallioluoma with concern.

YLE