Fatigue

Overview

Fatigue reduces a person’s ability to do their job safely, and decreases performance and productivity.

Fatigue is often caused by several combined factors, including:

• the demands of work
• work scheduling and planning
• environmental conditions
• dehydration: symptoms of which include cracked lips, flushed face, dizziness, cramps or headaches)
• drugs/alcohol/medication
• the type of work activity: such as a noisy environment or using vibrating tools
• poor diet, a lack of exercise, disrupted sleep
• poor emotional wellbeing or stress.

Identifying fatigue as a risk

To determine if fatigue could be a hazard at work, it’s vital to recognise mood, alertness, sleepiness, task performance and focus.

To assess the fatigue risk, ask yourself and record:

• Who is likely to be at risk of fatigue and where?
• How often is fatigue likely to occur?
• What degree of harm could it cause?
• Are any existing control measures effective?
• What action should be taken to control and monitor the risk of fatigue in yourself and others?
• How urgently is the control needed?

Signs of fatigue

Mood: irritable, uncommunicative, frustrated, disengaged, late for or not showing up for work.

Alertness: Slurs speech, rubs eyes, yawning, appears tired.

Performance: Cuts corners, takes risks, clumsy, forgetful, makes mistakes, poor decision making and judgement.

Focus: Loses the big picture, misses warning signs, fixed gaze, blurred vision, lack of focus.

Preventing fatigue

Work scheduling and planning

Take regular breaks and consider extra breaks if the work is demanding. If you need to work longer hours, consider staggered start and finish times, and longer breaks and periods off work.

Think about how you schedule your work - a person’s ability to be alert is not constant throughout the day. For most people, low points occur between 3.00 am and 5.00 am, and between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm. During these times, try to avoid doing tricky or dangerous jobs.

Monitor and place limits around overtime. Avoid incentives to work too many hours. If night work is required, limit the number of night shifts your employees can work in a row.

Limit shift swapping and on-call duties - regular sleeping patterns help prevent fatigue.

Try to create a positive environment with good relationships.

Mental and physical demands of work

• Use the right tools and resources for the job.
• Use low-vibration hand-held tools and where practical install low-vibration seats in machinery.
• Rotate tasks between workers.
• Stay hydrated and avoid drinks with caffeine.
• Make sure workloads and deadlines are realistic.

Environmental conditions

• Avoid working during extreme heat or cold.
• Provide shelter and facilities for breaks.

Get enough sleep

You should aim for between 7.5 to 8.5 hours a night. But to work out your optimal sleep time, try the following on your next holiday:

• Put your alarm clock away and wake up naturally for at least two days to overcome cumulative sleep loss.
• For the next three to four days, write down how many hours you sleep.
• Divide the total number of hours you have slept by the number of days – this is how much sleep you need to maintain optimal alertness, performance and wellbeing.

Get the whole team on board

Develop a fatigue policy which includes details on the maximum shift length, average weekly hours, and travel time. Make sure everyone is aware of the policy, how to recognise fatigue and how to report risks and incidents.

A fatigue calculator may be used as a guide to calculate and identify early risks of fatigue.

Further resources

Fatigue score calculator [NZ Transport Agency]

Fatigue quick guide [WorkSafe]

Mental Health and Wellbeing [Guide]