Addressing the elephant in the (bed)room: Sleep and fatigue as a...

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Addressing the elephant in the (bed)room: Sleep and fatigue as a shiftworker

IOSH National Food and Drink Manufacturing Conference 2016

Dr Paul Jackson


• Specialists in fatigue risk management

• Enhancing safety via effective management of human

performance

• Translate academic research into operational solutions

• Assisting organisations to build fatigue risk

management systems for over 10 years

Clockwork Research


• Manage alertness – not fatigue

• Shiftworkers experience an elevated level of fatigue

• Sleep loss, poor sleep quality, circadian disruption

• Prescriptive regulations in isolation do not protect

against fatigue risk

• Both the company and the workforce have a shared

responsibility to manage fatigue

Summary


Did you ever feel like this after lunch?


• Fatigue is negative. Alertness is positive

• We want employees to report reduced alertness, not just when they are too fatigued to operate.

– More effective risk management

– Countermeasures can still help restore alertness

Manage alertness not fatigue


How alert do you feel right now?


Shiftwork and fatigue

The National Food and Drink Manufacturing Conference 2016

Dr Paul Jackson

Incidents

Morale

Reputation

Sick days

Extra TrainingReduced efficiency

Recruitment

Health and wellbeing

Attrition

Fatigue-related accidents

Variable job performance

INCREASED COSTS


Shiftworkers typically get less sleep than they need

Work, 12.5

Commute to, 1.5

Commute from, 1.5

Morning preparation for

work, 1

Washing (evening), 0.25

Evening meal, 0.5

Interaction with family, 0.5

Available time for sleep, 6.25

90% of

people need

6-9 hours of

sleep per

day


• Working at times of the day when alertness is

at a minimum = increased accident risk

• Trying to sleep at a time of day when alertness

is high = poor quality sleep

• Effects similar to jet lag.

Shiftworkers experience circadian disruption


Effects of fatigue


Dr Paul Jackson


Effects of fatigue

Reduced alertness

• Vigilance and concentration

errors

Intentional

non-compliance

• Effort avoidance

• Short cuts

Procedural errors

Correct intention, flawed execution;

• E.g. slips & lapses*

Decision errors

• Perception of risk, failure to

consider options

*Slip: performing the correct action, but incorrectlyLapse: failing to perform the correct action at all


Microsleeps

• Brief periods of

unintentional sleep

• Occur when we are very

tired or the conditions are

right

• Significant impairment long

before microsleeps

• Late symptom of tiredness


Physical and cognitive signs of fatigue


Drowsy driving – getting home safely

• Fatigue occasionally results in at-work incidents

• But workers have lots of protection at work

• After a tiring shift, the first thing that we want to

do is get in the car and get home to sleep.

• Driving is one of the most high-risk situations for

fatigued employees.

• Tired drivers are estimated to cause 1 in 4 fatal

crashes on motorways and trunk roads.


How do we manage fatigue?


Dr Paul Jackson


Hours of Work regulations

• Simplistic illusion of safety

management:

- within the limits you

are safe

- outside the limits you

are unsafe.

Many regulatory authorities now require a more scientific approach to the management of

fatigue, based on analysis of data specific to the organisation.


Motorway video


Managing fatigue is a shared responsibility

Organisational Individual

Ensure shift patterns allow adequate breaks for recovery

between shifts

Provide employees with information and tools to enable them to manage their personal

fatigue risk

Treat seriously all reports of fatigue brought to their notice

by employees

Obtain adequate sleep

between shifts

Manage out of hours activities so they do not adversely affect

work performance

Report operational or personal factors that could increase

fatigue risk


Team strategies for managing fatigue

Reporting alertness throughout shift

Checking for early warning signs

Task rotation

Increased communication

Joking to identify impaired colleagues

Double-checking calculations

Visual reinforcement of verbal commands


• Manage alertness – not fatigue

• Shiftworkers experience an elevated level of fatigue

• Sleep loss, poor sleep quality, circadian disruption

• Prescriptive regulations in isolation do not protect

against fatigue risk

• Both the company and the workforce have a shared

responsibility to manage fatigue

Summary


For more information...

[email protected]


Addressing the elephant in the (bed)room: Sleep and fatigue as a...

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