The Effects of Fatigue on Workers Performance

Fatigue can be a killer, literally which is why the Australian authorities have not only undertake research with a number of different bodies to discover the real effects of fatigue but have also regulated to protect workers from unfair demands in workplaces.

By making sure that everyone in a supply chain is responsible for driver fatigue, the Australian regulations have pushed employers and workers alike to investigate best practice for the processes and procedures to make sure that nobody is placed at risk.

According to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland at the website http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/ the effects of fatigue include:

High levels of fatigue cause reduced performance and productivity, and increases the risk of accidents and injuries. Fatigue affects the ability to think clearly. As a result people who are fatigued are unable to gauge their own level of impairment, and are unaware that they are not functioning as well or as safely as they would be if they were not fatigued.

Performance levels drop as work periods become longer and sleep loss increases. Staying awake for 17 hours has the same effect on performance as having a blood alcohol content of 0.05%. Staying awake for 21 hours is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of 0.1%.

The most common effects associated with fatigue are:

–          Desire to sleep;

–          Lack of concentration;

–          Impaired recollection of timing and events;

–          Irritability;

–          Poor judgement;

–          Reduced capacity for communicating with others;

–          Reduced hand-eye coordination;

–          Reduced visual perception;

–          Reduced vigilance;

–          Reduced capacity to judge risk; and

–          Slower reaction times.

Not only do these effects decrease performance and productivity within the workplace, but they simultaneously increase the potential for incidents and injuries to occur. People working in a fatigued state may place themselves and others at risk, most particularly:

–          When operating machinery (including driving vehicles);

–          When performing critical tasks that require a high level of concentration; and

–          Where the consequence of error is serious

Source:http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/subjects/fatigue/effects/performance/index.htm

If you suspect that you may be suffering from fatigue either in your workplace or at home don’t just ignore it because it wont go away instead it will progressively get worse and affect every aspect of your life.

There is help available and the best place that you can start is to talk to your doctor about how you are feeling so that you can start to get the assistance that you need.