by HSEI Training
Fatigue is a hazard. Employers in North America have a duty to do everything reasonably practicable to make the working environment safe and monitor employee health. This means all workplaces should have a fatigue policy, and educate supervisors and managers on how to identify and manage fatigue.
Where fatigue creates significant risk (eg. in workplaces with heavy plant and equipment, in the health profession, the resources industries, and when working at heights), there must be:
specific training for workers and supervisors/managers on how to identify when a person is fatigued
a plan for how to manage fatigue based upon worker wellbeing, and
a requirement that workers report their state of fatigue and capacity for work, including disciplinary consequences for breaching this requirement
The risks of fatigue
Fatigue can affect the health and safety of workers both directly and indirectly.
Direct effects can lead to short and long term health issues, including;
stress
mood changes, such as depression
obesity
cardiovascular disease, and
gastrointestinal problems, e.g. constipation and stomach discomfort
Indirectly, fatigue can affect a worker’s own health and safety, as well as the health and safety of others in the workplace, exposing everyone to the following risks:
impaired judgment, i.e. reduced capability to make good decisions
reduced physical capacity, and
slower reaction times
Managing fatigue in the workplace
When managing fatigue you should consider the following:
Enlightening employees to the risks fatigue poses to safety and performance. It is an employee’s obligation to exercise reasonable care to prevent injury to themselves or others. Once the hazard and risk have been identified, the employee’s obligation to prevent the risks associated with attending work fatigued must be carefully considered.
Instituting appropriate policies. Policies should clearly identify the hazard and how it creates a risk to workers’ performance and safety. The performance element should fall under the code of conduct and performance-related HR policies, while the safety policies must describe the employees’ specific obligations to prevent the risk of working while fatigued. This should include the obligation to report fatigue and use a self-assessment process to determine fitness for work.
Encouraging self-reporting. Acknowledge that life creates fatigue (eg. through being a parent, noise or stress, etc.) and make sure any fatigue policy that is implemented rewards self-reporting and self-management, and is not punitive. The key to all safety management is knowing the risk ahead of time and managing it rather than creating a process that discourages people from reporting.
Interested in Knowing More?
For in-depth advice about risk management, please contact one of our expert team today. https://www.hseigroup.com/contact.
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