Occupational Cognitive Failure and Its Relationship With Unsafe Behaviors and Accidents

Objectives. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between occupational cognitive failures (OCFs) and unsafe behaviors, accidents and driving offences among municipal bus drivers in Tehran, Iran. Methods. Systematic random sampling was used to select 190 drivers from 3 transport and traffic Tehran districts. Data were collected with the occupational cognitive failure questionnaire (OCFQ), the driver behavior questionnaire and a data collection form. Results. The mean (SD) numbers of driving-related offences and road traffic accidents were 1.5 (2.6) and 0.37 (1.0), respectively. The mean (SD) numbers of deliberate driving violations, unintended violations, driving slips and mistakes were 6.97 (5.5), 1.61 (1.5), 13.6 (9.0) and 4.53 (3.28), respectively. The mean (SD) number of the OCFs was 28.9 (20.5). A significant correlation was found between occupational cognitive error and unsafe driving behavior subscales. The stepwise logistic regression results showed that, while controlling the effects of confounding factors, the OCF predicts 6%, 9%, 15% and 9% of deliberate violations, unintended violations, driving slips and driving mistakes, respectively. Conclusion. The results of this study show that the score of the OCFQ is a predictor of unsafe driving behaviors and its subscales.