Many organisations in the supply chain industry need to meet growing expectations to provide access to a 24/7 service.
It’s a commercial reality that usually necessitates shift work, leading to a workforce operating during what could be considered unnatural hours.
Recent studies suggest operator fatigue could be a major contributor to incidents in the operational workplace.
It can affect judgement and increase the propensity to make what in hindsight could be considered incorrect decisions, thus increasing risk.
In the extreme, fatigue can be linked to severe stress and mental illness.
What is fatigue? Fatigue is the state of feeling very tired, usually resulting from insufficient sleep, prolonged mental or physical work, or extended periods of stress or anxiety.
Boring or repetitive tasks can intensify such a feeling.
Fatigue can be described either as acute or chronic.
Acute fatigue, often resulting from short-term sleep loss or intense short periods of heavy workload, can easily be reversed by sleep and relaxation.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a more severe state of tiredness that is not immediately relieved by rest.
One of the fundamental challenges associated with fatigue and stress is that they are not easy to identify, quantify or monitor.
Signs of fatigue and stress can include irritability, depression, loss of appetite and an increased susceptibility to illness.
Therefore, awareness of the symptoms and effects of fatigue becomes critical in managing related workplace risks.
The understood effects of fatigue include reduced decision-making ability, reduced communication skills, reduced attention and vigilance, dulled reactions, increased tendency for risk taking and more errors in judgement.
It is not difficult to correlate such effects with risks in the workplace, especially where individuals are working with machinery, moving parts and mobile equipment.
Getting enough rest So how much sleep do we need? Each individual differs but studies suggest on average somewhere between 7.
5 and 8.
5 hours sleep every 24-hour period is needed.
Typically, a night-shift worker will get five to seven hours less sleep each week than a day worker.
Humans naturally follow a biological clock, a cycle of sleep, wakefulness and alertness that is generally aligned with the hours of daylight.
Due to the “unnatural” waking hours experienced by night, shift and extended time working, the effects of fatigue can be intensified when compared to those working a traditional day shift.
Studies suggest periods of intense fatigue are usually experienced during the hours where we instinctively require sleep the most – between 11pm and 6am.
Furthermore, shift workers suffer from sleep deprivation because their sleep schedules change frequently.
Where shifts are rotated, experts recommend it is done clockwise in order to support the adjustment.
That’s because if you work, say, 4pm till midnight, you tend to sleep from around 3am to 11am.
If you then move to a shift beginning at 8am, your sleep pattern is disrupted, which is harmful to worker productivity.
Workers reported an increase in productivity and happier working conditions using the clockwise rotation.
Assessing the impact of fatigue
A recent study sought to monitor personnel driving mobile equipment through the deployment of sophisticated camera technology installed in the vehicles.
The equipment was mounted in the driving cab and monitored the behaviour and responsiveness of the operator.
The associated software detected events such as those where the eyes of the operator unwittingly closed for any prolonged period during their working hours.
The study started with an information campaign to the workers explaining the effects of fatigue, followed by two stages of monitoring.
In the first stage, the equipment was installed and only recorded fatigue events without alerting the driver, building a significant amount of information over a period.
The second phase introduced an audible warning in an event related to prolonged eye closure, highlighting the issue to the operator.
The results of the study were illuminating.
Notably, but unsurprisingly, there was a much higher fatigue event rate during what was the traditional night shift, especially during the period 11am to 5am.
Events were recorded evidencing that operators could close their eyes for several seconds while driving the vehicle.
Although this is inherently dangerous in any circumstances, when considered in the confined and often congested environment of a transport yard or container terminal, there is an increased risk of a high consequence incident.
By way of context, a vehicle travelling at 20kmh would move in the region of 11 metres during an eye closure of just two seconds.
The introduction of an audible warning led to dramatic improvements – in some cases the number of events recorded reduced to zero.
This suggests that once an individual is given effective alerts and understands the impact of fatigue, self management can overcome feelings of fatigue.
Considered management In addition to such monitoring, a number of known environmental factors can be modified in order to mitigate the associated risks of fatigue.
Although it’s not an exhaustive list, dim lighting, high temperatures, high levels of comfort, tasks which must be sustained for long periods and tasks which are repetitive, difficult, boring or increased fatigue levels.
Workforce management often focuses on “absenteeism” but there could be greater cost associated with “presenteeism” – where workers are unaware of the risks and continue to work.
Increasing awareness the key
Any attempt to address workplace fatigue and stress should start with engagement with the entire workforce to increase awareness and provide a broader recognition of the phenomenon.
Workforce awareness about fatigue improves the ability to identify individual issues.
Inclusion will be key in effective management to overcome barriers related to individual “coping strategies” and strengthen feelings of workforce wellbeing and support.
*If you would like further information, or have any comments, please email us: O’Connor Warren Insurance Brokers, transport and logistics insurance and risk specialists.
