Quite Frank about workplace fatigue

In an article 'Fatigue in the workplace' in Railway Digest, October 1999, Vol 37 No. 10, Frank Hussey outlined the issues of workplace fatigue and argued that it is time the transport sector moved to improve its record on driver fatigue. The following is an extract of that article:

"Lots of things have changed in the railway industry since its birth - except one. Operational staffs are still required to work around the clock. And to the extent that things in this regard have changed - the shifts and the distances are much longer - there has been an intensification of the work process. These new work arrangements have added to the problem of fatigue."

"At present, there is limited community awareness of the social costs associated with fatigue-related impairment. If fatigue is to be managed rationally, it is critical that the community costs of fatigue-related problems are quantified and any expenditure viewed as an investment in the reduction of the social costs attributable to fatigue."

"Fatigue should be managed in a similar manner to the way the Government approached alcohol-related accidents and injuries in the workplace in the Eighties and Nineties. That is, the community perception of fatigue-related impairment should be that it is considered morally and legally unacceptable to have an impaired worker operating in the workplace. It should be irrelevant whether the impairment is due to drugs, alcohol or fatigue."

Frank J Hussey is the principal of Frank J Hussey Consulting Services Pty Ltd. He can be contacted at FrankJHussey@bigpond.com.