Work Place Fatigue

• In occupational health and safety, there is not a single definition of

fatigue.
• Fatigue is often thought of as the state of feeling very tired, weary or
sleepy resulting from various sources such as insufficient sleep,
prolonged mental or physical work, or extended periods of stress or
anxiety. Boring or repetitive tasks can intensify feelings of fatigue.
Fatigue can be described as either acute or chronic.
• Work fatigue is typically defined as a reduction of one’s
functional capacity due to extreme tiredness (Frone
and Tidwell, 2015) and has long been recognized as a
precursor of a wide variety of undesirable outcomes for
the organization (e.g., higher levels of turnover
intentions; Cai et al., 2018)and the employee (e.g.,
lower sleep quality and quantity; Frone and Blais,
2019).
• Fatigue is a general term used to describe feelings of
drowsiness or tiredness, reduced energy, and the
increased effort needed to perform tasks effectively and
avoid errors (Dinges, 2001).
• A systematic review conducted by Uehli (2014) of 27
research studies found that workers with sleep problems
have a 1.62 times higher risk of injury than workers
without sleep problems. The study also estimates that
about 13% of work injuries can be attributed to sleep
problems.
• Frone and Tideless 2015,showed that employees
presenting high levels of work fatigue displayed lower
job satisfaction, psychological health, physical health,
and organizational commitment, coupled with accrued
turnover intentions and difficulties to relax after work.
Work fatigue is damaging both psychologically and
physically, leading to less efficient work recovery,
negative work attitudes, and health-related difficulties
(Hobfoll, 1989 Shirom and Melamed, 2006).
 State of Fatigue
• Mental state:
• Reduced mental capacity
• Inattentive
• Indecisive
• Physical state:
• Physiological weakness or degradation
• Physically exhausted
• Weak
• Subjective state:
• Tired
• Drowsy
• Weary
• Sleepy
• Lethargic
 Is fatigue a workplace issue?
• Everyone should be concerned about the impact of fatigue as it can be
considered a form of impairment, making fatigue a workplace hazard.
However, fatigue levels are not easily measured or quantified; therefore, it
is difficult to isolate the effect of fatigue on incident and injury rates.
• Workplace factors that may influence fatigue are shift rotation patterns,
balanced workloads, timing of tasks and activities, availability of
resources, and the workplace environment (e.g., lighting, ventilation,
temperature, etc.).
• However, be sure to consider other factors beyond a lack of sleep including
mental fatigue, such as mental workloads, demanding mental activities or
stress, long periods of anxiety, or long periods of monotonous tasks, etc.
• Many studies focus on the amount of sleep required. Some research studies
have shown that when workers have slept for less than 5 hours before work
or when workers have been awake for more than 16 hours, their chance of
making mistakes at work due to fatigue are significantly increased.
• Research has shown that the number of hours awake can be similar to blood
alcohol levels. One study reports the following:
• 17 hours awake is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of 0.05
• 21 hours awake is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of 0.08 (legal limit
in Canada)
• 24-25 hours awake is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of 0.10
 effects of fatigue and their
relationship to work
Consequences of fatigue can include mental and physical performance,
Studies report the effects of fatigue as:
reduced decision making ability or cognitive processing,
reduced ability to do complex planning,
reduced communication skills,
reduced productivity or performance,
reduced alertness, attention and vigilance,
reduced ability to handle stress on the job,
reduced reaction time - both in speed or thought, as well as the ability to react,
loss of memory or the ability to recall details,
failure to respond to changes in surroundings or information provided,
unable to stay awake (e.g., falling asleep while operating machinery or
driving a vehicle),
increased tendency for risk-taking,
reduced physical capacity,
reduced performance, such as a reduced ability to do task or job
increased forgetfulness,
increased errors in judgement,
increased sick time, absenteeism, rate of turnover,
increased medical costs, and
increased incident rates.
• Research using data from the National Health Interview Survey finds
both shortened sleep duration and more weekly working hours are
independently associated with increased risk of a work-related injury
(Lombardi et al., 2010). These results are found even after controlling
for several socio-demographic, job-related and physical factors.
Because sleep and working hours independently impact injury risk,
reduced sleep increases injury risk, regardless of number of normal
hours worked.
• Similarly, an increase in normal hours worked increases injury risk,
regardless of the number of normal hours of sleep (Lombardi et al.,
2010). Injury rates are highest among workers who generally sleep
less than seven hours per day and workers who typically work more
than 40 hours per week. Injury rates peak among workers who
regularly get less than five hours of sleep a night (7.89 injuries per 100
employees) and among workers who typically work more than 60
hours a week (4.34 injuries per 100 employees)
How can a workplace address
fatigue?
• Fatigue can be addressed through the workplace’s safety management system, or as a
separate fatigue management program. Creation of a program that addresses both
workplace and personal factors may include to:
• identify the hazards and conduct a risk assessment for factors associated with fatigue
• develop and implement the organization’s response to when a person is experiencing
fatigue
• document of the steps to take to report fatigue in self or others
• design the work area to have appropriate lighting, temperature, and noise levels.
• develop administrative practices such as maximum hours of service, appropriate shift
rotation, extended workdays, reducing or eliminating the need to do high risk activities
between certain hours (e.g., between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.), etc. assess
physical and mental job demands.
provide appropriate work, where possible. For example, try to offer a
variety of tasks that vary in interest and movement throughout the shift.
provide lodging or areas to rest or sleep, where appropriate and necessary
educate and train about fatigue, including recognizing signs and symptoms
of fatigue, how to gauge alertness, or steps to help achieve better sleep
provide medical screening for health issues that may affect sleep
provide mental health services, including employee assistance programs
(EAP), as needed
include fatigue as a possible factor and related causes of fatigue when
investigating incidents