The safety risks of worker fatigue

Although it may not always be treated with the same urgency as other job-site hazards, worker fatigue is a serious safety issue.

According to Construction Executive, long shifts, overtime, heat, repetitive tasks and inadequate recovery time can cause physical and mental strain and raise risk of injury because of slower reaction times, decreased situational awareness and impaired judgment. This can lead to accidents that affect the safety of the fatigued worker and his or her co-workers. It also can result in costly rework, wasted labor and materials, and schedule delays.

Construction Executive shares the following ways companies can proactively address worker fatigue.

• Applying job-site intervention. A company managing a high-profile construction project might employ onsite occupational health professionals to conduct ergonomic assessments; coach proper body mechanics and safe material handling; and lead warmups before shifts to improve flexibility and comfort.
• Delivering targeted care. Episodic health services offer flexible, targeted services for companies that only require support for seasonal or project-specific risks. The services can be provided once or on a recurring basis to address specific occupational illnesses and injuries. One example would be organizing worksite flu vaccinations so crew members stay healthy, reducing the number of sick workers and the need to work overtime.
• Measuring impact and demonstrating value. Measurable outcomes can include tracking recordable injuries and near-misses; monitoring reductions in days off through better prevention and quicker recoveries; analyzing schedule adherence and rework rates for reductions in fatigue-related errors; and evaluating rates of winning bids on safety-sensitive projects linked to enhanced safety metrics.
• Using data to take action. Occupational health experts can help create a fatigue management strategy by using injury data. Strategies could include analyzing injury and near-miss data for fatigue‑related patterns; reviewing schedules and overtime to identify high‑risk rotations; surveying workers and screening for sleep and fatigue issues; and adding fatigue-related questions to injury evaluations.