Most of us will feel tired after a particularly long or hard day at work. Workplace fatigue, however, is much more than that. It’s an acute or ongoing state that leads to physical, mental or emotional exhaustion, preventing you from functioning safely. Indeed, it is estimated in Australia, annually, around 10,000 serious workplace injuries occur at a cost of over $36 billion, which can be attributed to fatigue.
Safe Work Australia stipulates employers must minimise or eliminate workplace fatigue risk. Aside from this legal responsibility, our experience highlights a raft of practical impacts of fatigue in the workplace, including:
- Decreased Productivity
- Increased Errors
- Higher Accident Rates
- Poor Decision-Making
- Decline in Physical and Mental Health
- Employee Disengagement
- Strained Interpersonal Relationships
- Absenteeism
- Negative Impact on Innovation
- Increased Healthcare Costs
Causes of Work-Related Fatigue
Fatigue is a risk in most organisations, with three broad causes – physical, mental and emotional. It can be acute (short term) or build over time. Safe Work Australia identifies major work-related causes as:
- prolonged or intense (e.g. mental or physical) tasks or jobs
- sleep loss or disruption to your internal body clock
- organisational change
- travel
- uncomfortable or hazardous working environments (e.g. working in heat)
- work scheduling
- excessively long shifts
- not enough time to recover between shifts
- long commuting times
What are the Signs
Some of the signs of fatigue to watch out for include excessive yawning, short-term memory problems and an inability to concentrate, difficulty with interpersonal communications, impaired decision-making and judgment, reduced hand-eye coordination or slow reflexes and changes in behaviour, such as repeatedly arriving to work late or an increase in unplanned absence.
Preventing Workplace Fatigue
While managing fatigue is a shared responsibility and will vary depending on the type of work, OHSA identifies key factors organisations can consider to prevent it, ensuring:
- workers are not required to work unnecessarily extended hours
- shift workers' rosters provide for the opportunity for 7-8 hours of continuous sleep every 24 hours (this includes when rotating between day, afternoon and night shifts)
- minimising early morning starts before 6 am for more than five consecutive days
- regular breaks are factored into the workday, especially for workers who perform prolonged repetitive tasks
Individuals can impact their work readiness by:
- limiting alcohol and stimulants as they affect the quality of sleep
- maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including eating a well-balanced diet and getting regular exercise
- prioritising adequate sleep each evening
The first step to avoiding workplace fatigue is understanding how it presents itself in each unique environment and role and putting in place systems for prevention. Managers are encouraged to proactively promote rest, time off for rejuvenation and encourage sick leave when employees are ill or injured. Finally, providing education and training on identifying the signs and symptoms of fatigue, and how to mitigate it to prevent accidents and injuries, is essential.
At Acclaimed Workforce we have vast experience managing workplace safety for on-hired employees, and expertise in developing safety management plans. If you would like advice regarding how to address fatigue risk in your WHS policies and procedures, contact us today.
Download our Preventing on the Job Fatigue poster for your workplace
here.
