Workplace Fatigue Management: Signs, Risks, and Effective Control Strategies
Fatigue is more than just a case of feeling tired or drowsy. It can include both mental and/or physical exhaustion, which can impact you to do your job safely. This could result in injury. This Workplace Fatigue Fact Sheet steps you through the signs symptoms and management.
Signs & Symptoms:
- Blurred vision or impaired visual perception
- Feeling unusually tired or drowsy/lack of energy
- Headaches
- Feeling dizzy
- Finding it difficult to concentrate/memory problems
- Finding it difficult to get up from sleep during days off work
- Muscles feel sore or ache/Muscle weakness
- Reflexes and responses are slower
- Changes in behaviour such as increased moodiness and irritability
- Impaired decision-making and judgement
Ways to manage workplace fatigue risks:
- Maintain Safe Systems of work
- Review/evaluate work schedules/work rosters
- Support workers to identify and report fatigue related hazards
- Conduct safety surveys incorporating questions related to fatigue management.
- Introduce a worker well being program
- Risk Assess hazardous manual tasks to ensure appropriate controls are being used.
- Include a wellbeing focus into the Safety Management Plan and WHS policy.
- Train selected personnel in Mental Health First Aid to support and recognise symptoms of mental health impacts.
- Ensure incident investigations are undertaken to determine if fatigue risks were present and/or contributed to the incident.
- Introduce Fitness for Work policies.
- Review levels of absenteeism.
- Ensure that you have appropriately trained First Aiders to respond to any emergency that may arise. Remember – Safety is everyone’s responsibility.
In a medical emergency call Triple Zero (000). You could save a life with First Aid Training