Fatigue Risk Management
Shift work, extended hours, night operations and long commutes create a form of impairment that behaves like any other occupational exposure. It can be assessed, quantified and controlled. We do exactly that, with international specialist expertise resident in our team.
The problem
Why fatigue programmes under perform
Fatigue is an impairment, not an attitude
A sleep restricted brain produces slips, lapses and errors that a rested one does not. It shows up as a missed step in a procedure, a wrong selection, or a decision that made no sense afterwards. Treating it as a discipline issue rather than a measurable impairment is why so many fatigue controls fail.
The commute is part of the exposure
For rosters built around long shifts and long drives, the highest fatigue risk of the swing is often the journey home. Any fatigue programme that stops at the site gate has left its largest single risk unmanaged.
A policy is not a control
Most operations already have a fatigue policy. Far fewer can show which points of the roster cycle carry the highest risk, which controls are actually in place at those points, and whether the residual risk has been reduced as low as reasonably practicable.
Supervisors carry the decision
When a worker presents fatigued at the start of a shift, a supervisor decides what happens next. Without training in impairment recognition and clear controls to apply, that decision is made on instinct, and usually in favour of continuing to work.
Dr Nicholas Mabbott
BPsych (Org), PhD
Resident International Fatigue Risk Specialist
Australia, available for projects in Botswana
Our resident specialist
Three decades of fatigue risk expertise, on your site
Fatigue risk management is a narrow discipline, and genuine depth in it is rare anywhere in the world. Rather than approximate it, we brought it into the practice. Our fatigue services are delivered with a resident international specialist whose career has been built almost entirely in this field, across the resources sector, heavy transport and road safety research.
- Approximately 30 years specialising in the management of workplace fatigue
- Has personally delivered fatigue training to more than 36,000 employees, supervisors and managers
- More than 90 percent of that delivery within the resources sector
- 8.5 years of road safety research spanning 50 projects, 35 of them led and authored personally
- Investigated 24 fatigue related driver crashes for state police and coronial inquiries in Australia
- Developed an established method for sleep timing, in use since 2010
- Published author on sleep health, with a foreword contributed by Australia's national sleep health body
- Engaged by a state mine safety advisory council to review and advise on mining fatigue guidelines
What we deliver
From document review to the shift floor
Engagements are scoped to what your operation actually needs, whether that is a single roster reviewed before it is adopted or a full programme across every crew.
Fatigue risk assessment, desk top
A structured review of your fatigue policy, procedures, standards and supporting documents, returned as a report of recommended changes, additions and controls.
- Review of the full fatigue document set against current practice
- Gap analysis with prioritised recommendations
- One revision round following your review
- Final report issued in editable and portable formats
Fatigue risk assessment workshop
Subject matter expertise brought into your own risk workshop, on site or online, so the assessment is built with your people rather than handed to them.
- Pre-reading and review of your supplied documents
- Opening presentation on the role of sleep in workplace fatigue
- Specialist input throughout the workshop as subject matter expert
- Attendance in person in Botswana or remotely
Roster reviews
Quantified analysis of where a roster cycle creates its highest fatigue risk, with the controls needed to bring that risk to a level that is as low as reasonably practicable.
- Modelled with an established regulatory fatigue calculator
- Highest risk points in the cycle identified and illustrated
- Each fatigue causal and contributing factor tabulated
- Recommended control per factor, with a client verification column
Workforce fatigue training
Evidence based fatigue and sleep training built for your site from a library of 23 modules, so the content matches your rosters, your hazards and your workforce.
- Tailored module selection per site and shift pattern
- Sessions delivered on site or online
- Suitable for operators, maintenance, staff and non shift workers
- Short awareness format available for toolbox and pre start settings
Supervisor fatigue training
Supervisors decide whether a fatigued worker keeps working. This programme gives them the knowledge and the confidence to make that call and to apply the right control.
- Recognising signs and symptoms of impairment in crews and individuals
- Distinguishing intoxication from impairment
- Referral pathways to occupational health and employee assistance
- Identifying fatigue as a causal factor in incident investigation
Programme tools & documents
The practical instruments that turn a fatigue policy into something a crew actually uses on shift.
- Employee self assessment and supervisor assessment tools
- Fatigue risk cards for field use
- Sleep disorder screening questionnaires and training for site health teams
- Sleep improvement programmes and return to work support for treated sleep apnoea
- Operator monitoring system awareness, training and data analysis support
Training curriculum
Training people actually act on
The content is current, evidence based and built around what a shift worker can realistically change. Select a programme to see the modules.
Built for your site from a library of 23 modules. Typical sessions run 2 to 4 hours.
The science of sleep
How the brain clears metabolic waste during sleep, and how sleep restores the energy the brain runs on the following day. Establishes sleep as a physiological requirement rather than a lifestyle preference.
Sleep stages and cycles
What each stage of sleep contributes to memory, immune function, cardiovascular and metabolic health, and how those cycles change when sleep is cut short night after night.
The war on sleep
The everyday factors that erode sleep, including caffeine, alcohol, prescribed medication, young children, evening screen use, and the common sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnoea and insomnia.
Sleep, mental and physical health
The evidence linking sleep restriction to metabolic disease and mental health outcomes, presented so workers can act on it rather than simply be alarmed by it.
Shift work and on call
Practical transition into and out of night shift, protecting daytime sleep, and managing the particular demands of on call and call out work.
Workplace safety
How an impaired brain produces slips, lapses and errors, illustrated with real incident case studies, followed by recognition and immediate countermeasures.
Stop before you get tired
Driving impairment separated into three distinct levels, each with its own controls. Drawn from long running road safety research and from investigating fatigue related crashes for police and coronial inquiries.
Scoping and pricing on application
Every fatigue engagement is scoped to the operation, the roster and the number of crews involved. Send us the outline through our quotation form and we will come back with a scoped proposal and a fee.