Safety Update

Safety Update: Fatigue Management

What does the space shuttle Challenger explosion, Exxon Valdez oil spill, Chernobyl and Three Mile Island meltdowns, and the NSW Waterfall train disaster have in common? If you answered they were all huge disasters, you would be correct, but did you also know they had another thing in common? Human fatigue was a persistent and common factor in the day to day work environments surrounding these disasters.

Recent statistics from the National Collision database reveal that 19% of fatal accidents and 23% of accidents involving bodily injury are attributable to fatigue on Canadian roads.

Fatigue impacts:

• Vision
• Reflexes
• Behavior
• Decision Making
• Memory
• Problem Solving
• Concentration
• Observation
• Judgment
• Communication
• Mood
• Risk Taking

Under occupational health and safety legislation, an employer must provide a safe and healthy work environment. This environment includes vehicles. The responsibility lies first with the employer, although employees and self-employed workers must also assume certain responsibilities.

In today's Health and Safety environment, fatigue management is or it should be very high on the priority list. A well designed, implemented and managed Fatigue Management Program (FMP) is a multi-facetted process for addressing fatigue in the work place, and provides ample rewards. The makeup of an organization's FMP will vary, as it will address needs specific to the organization and employees, and should reflect variances of the following key elements:

• Corporate Culture Education and training
• Sleep disorder screening and treatment
• Scheduling and tools
• Family
• Environmental
• Physical Activity
• Nutrition/Hydration
• Sleep/Accommodation
• Travel - to and from workplace
• Fatigue monitoring and management technologies

In summary, an appropriately structured FMP results in reduced injuries, reduced accidents, reduced risk and liability, and increased productivity, while providing improved quality of life to staff in addition to a healthier bottom line. When one finishes calculating the return on investment of a FMP, the results are surprising. A relatively low investment will produce remarkable returns.

The degree of causation played by fatigue in the previously noted disasters cannot be easily measured.  However the failure to have an FMP program in place is easily established and this failure is likely to be identified as a breach of good business practice in future disaster investigations.

This Safety Update was contributed by :

Peter Holgersen Delta Sleep Clinic Peter.Holgersen@circ.ca                      (780) 481-6677

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