Optalert

A drowsy driver can drift into a microsleep state with no memory of what happened!

It is commonly held that sleep always involves closed eyes. But many microsleeps occur with eyes wide open – a phenomenon known as the “death stare”.

The driver looks fine. Their hands are on the wheel. But their brain has checked out.

This is one of the most dangerous aspects of fatigue: by the time visible warning signs appear, multiple microsleep events may have already occurred.

Our latest article unpacks the science behind microsleeps, why self-assessment is unreliable, and why early, objective detection is the only effective strategy.

Read it here:

Why (and how) drivers have microsleeps - Optalert Microsleeps are invisible, undetectable by the person experiencing them, and often happen with eyes open. Here's what the science and our research says about preventing them.

Fatigue safety regulations in mining and transport are evolving beyond box-ticking on hours worked, regular breaks, and reporting. Mine operators now carry the duty of care and must actively mitigate risk.

Our latest Insights article details the evolving regulatory landscape across the USA, UK, and Australia. In the USA, in particular, recent rulings have broadened the definition of “mine” to any facility “necessarily connected” to extraction or processing. These now fall under the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) jurisdiction.

Federal guidelines are a floor that is gradually being raised. Operators who were only meeting the minimum yesteryear are now visibly underperforming and thus exposed to regulatory risk.

Regarding fatigue risk, technology exists today that ensures operations stay well ahead of the bare minimum. When impairment is quantified early, intervention becomes proactive rather than reactive. That shift changes how operators manage risk across fleets, and positions them as safety leaders rather than laggards.

Read the full article:

Fatigue Safety Regulations for Mining and Driving - Optalert MSHA fatigue regulations, mine operator safety obligations, and drowsy driving laws explained. Learn what US mining safety rules require and how to manage fatigue risk.

Many drivers believe they can tell when they are too drowsy to continue.

The evidence suggests otherwise.

Humans are fundamentally poor at assessing their own drowsiness, particularly in safety-critical environments like mining and transport. As drowsiness develops, the very cognitive systems required for self-monitoring begin to degrade.

The result is a dangerous mismatch between perceived state and actual impairment.

This is not simply a behavioural issue. It is a neurological one.
In our latest Insights piece, we unpack:

• Why subjective awareness of drowsiness is unreliable
• How drowsiness affects the brain and impacts one’s ability to self-monitor drowsiness
• The operational factors in the mining and transport industries that make accurate self-assessment even more difficult

Most importantly, it explains why objective drowsiness monitoring is increasingly essential for managing risk and improving safety outcomes.

Read it here -

Why We Can’t Reliably Assess Our Own Drowsiness - Optalert Human perception is a poor indicator of drowsiness. In industries where worker safety is paramount, relying on self-assessment alone can introduce serious operational risks.

A monumental leap forward for AI-powered fleet monitoring in mining and transport!

Optalert is proud to announce the product launch of Eagle Insights, resolving the core issues with driver monitoring cameras in fleet applications. Transform your fatigue, safety, and compliance data into actionable intelligence.

Eagle Insights enables periodic reviews of high-risk operators in safety-critical roles, while urgent safety alerts remain within Optalert's real-time Eagle Eye IRIS monitoring platform. Less noise, more clarity.

Features include:

🎯 First-Rate Accuracy: added layer of high-compute server AI to reclassify all edge AI camera-based alerts.

🦅 Site Metrics Dashboard: an Eagle Eye view of risk hotspots, 28-day rolling safety KPIs, configurable risk score weighting, top driver rankings.

▶️ Driver Event Review: video event playback, confidence scoring, annotation, bulk archive.

✨ Report Editor: event annotation, action-item tracking, AI-assisted summary from LLM, PDF export.

🌍 Multi-language UI: English, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish localisation.

What does this mean for our customers in mining and transport?

⚡ Identify high-risk drivers quicker.
🚨 Intervene and support them earlier.
📉 Improve safety long-term.
🚩 This launch is an historic milestone in our mission to help fleet customers identify at-risk drivers and support them before incidents occur.

We want to thank our amazing team for devoting all their creative energy and working tirelessly. R&D, CST, Product, and every other area of the business had a hand in bringing this transformative product to life.

If you are interested in learning more, contact us to learn how you can greatly improve safety across your fleet.
https://www.optalert.com/solutions/mining-transport/

As National Road Safety Week comes to a close, we are reminded that road safety is an everyday responsibility that can be enhanced with smart tools backed by science.

At Optalert, we have gone beyond blood alcohol content with the Optalert Intoxication Scale: a breakthrough biomarker that detects alcohol-related driver impairment, unlocking a new chapter in road safety.

Impairment is not always visible. But with the right tools, it can be detected, and lives can be saved.

Have a read here - https://www.optalert.com/beyond-bac-announcing-the-optalert-intoxication-scale/

Beyond BAC: Announcing the Optalert Intoxication Scale We unveil the discovery of a new biomarker: the Optalert Intoxication Scale! An algorithm that detects alcohol-related driver impairment in real-time.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and other sleep disorders are leading but often overlooked causes of drowsiness and fatigue on the road. Left undiagnosed, these conditions can put drivers and everyone around them at risk.

That is why testing for sleep conditions can save lives – by preventing people from falling asleep while driving, helping everyone on the road get home safely.

At Optalert, we support early detection by providing innovative, science-backed tools that detect drowsiness and impairment in real-time – because knowing the risks is the first step toward preventing them.

Learn more at https://www.optalert.com/

Think yawning means you are drowsy? Think again.

During National Road Safety Week, we are busting myths.

Research shows yawning is not a reliable indicator of fatigue, and depending on it can put lives at risk.

Learn why: https://www.optalert.com/yawning-is-a-poor-indicator-of-drowsiness/

Yawning is a poor indicator of drowsiness - Optalert In the automotive sector, some engineering teams have developed driver monitoring systems (DMSs) that attempt to detect the driver yawning as a proxy for drowsiness. This is not only ineffective, but likely increases the risk of an accident due to drowsiness. Yawning is commonly associated with some...