To mitigate fatigue-based risk, countermeasures such as planned naps, smart shift scheduling, sleep hygiene education and sleep disorder management can be used.
While research indicates that certain countermeasures, when used alone, can be effective at increasing the amount of sleep a worker gets and decreasing fatigue on the job, it was recently suggested that it may be more effective to incorporate countermeasures into a system of complementary strategies and policies that adequately address the many different facets of occupational fatigue.
According to 2020 research, a systems approach “involves exploring the characteristics of components within a system (i.e., work tasks and technology) and how they interconnect to improve understanding of how outcomes emerge from these interactions.”
Using systems thinking is an effective way to approach risk management because it provides the framework for identifying the interrelationships between risk factors, outcomes and potential countermeasures, producing a clearer picture of what is going well and what needs improvement within an entire system. Factors considered may be administrative, managerial, educational or medical in nature.
As an example, planned or “prescriptive” napping (i.e., strategic and sanctioned napping in safe, designated areas during pre-planned breaks) was demonstrated to be an effective countermeasure on its own. But it may be even more effective within a system where factors such as shift scheduling, sleep hygiene and sleep disorders are also addressed.
Such strategies specifically addressing occupational fatigue are known as fatigue risk management systems.
Fatigue risk management systems
A fatigue risk management system (FRMS) is an evidence-based system of strategies designed to limit and mitigate occupational fatigue.
2019 research suggests that an FRMS is “a long-term sustainable strategy to maintain shift worker health and safety.” An FRMS is sustainable because the strategies – such as seeking participation and input from all levels of an organization to identify hazards related to fatigue, assessing the risk of those hazards, implementing mitigating controls based on that feedback, and regularly monitoring and assessing the mitigating controls – are effective and flexible enough to meet the continuously changing needs of an organization and its workers.
Australian mining operations successfully incorporated fatigue risk management systems into their health and safety programs through regulation and the production of guidance documents and materials.
A similar FRMS approach was adopted within the U.S. and among countries belonging to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) by airline operators to manage the risks of fatigue in commercial airline pilots.
To this point, though, comprehensive fatigue risk management systems have not been widely adopted within mining operations in the U.S. For mine operators interested in implementing an FRMS at their sites, guidance documents are available from regulators and organizations representing several industries.
Takeaways
Fatigue risk management systems are evidence-based strategies to prevent and mitigate fatigue and the associated health and safety risks. Due to the ability of an FRMS to provide both cost savings and flexibility to the operator and to improve the alertness and overall well-being of the worker, it is likely that more industries will continue to create and implement fatigue risk management systems in the future.
Annalise McInelly, Brianna M. Eiter, Zoë Dugdale and Timothy J. Bauerle produced this article on behalf of the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH). The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of NIOSH, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
