Vehicles are increasingly functioning as mobile workspaces, prompting Griffith University researchers to conduct a deep dive to better understand how and why workers multitask while driving.
Dr Blake Palmer from Griffith’s School of Applied Psychology is investigating the premise of work-related multitasking behaviours while driving.
“The study aims to understand how and why drivers engage in work-related multitasking while driving, and how organisational expectations and safety systems may influence these behaviours,” Dr Palmer said.
“Multi-tasking includes taking or making phone calls while driving, checking or responding to work messages, reviewing schedules or job details on a device, looking up addresses and navigating between jobs, and managing time pressures by eating while driving.
“Studies of this nature are vital in addressing a gap as there is a lack of information on how common these behaviours are.”
Work tasks can be time-critical, linked to productivity or performance expectations, and may be socially expected.
This means a person’s decision to multitask while driving could be managed differently by workers depending on different roles and job requirements.
The study is seeking participants who have driven a vehicle for work purposes in the past six months, and may include driving a personal or company vehicle to and from work, between jobs or sites, visiting clients, or making deliveries.
It would involve completing a short 15-minute online survey.
For more information or to participate, click here or email [email protected].
