Fatigue is a normal part of everyday life. But in the workplace, sleep deprivation and fatigue can affect people’s ability to do their job, be productive, or enjoy an overall sense of wellbeing. Not only that, but it increases the chance of errors, accidents, and injuries while on the job.
Each year there are an estimated 274,000 workplace accidents and errors due to insomnia, costing employers $31 billion, which is more than any chronic health-related condition, according to the American Insomnia Survey.
Whether it’s long hours, shift work, working late at night, or poor sleep quality, fatigue can impact employees’ quality of work. It’s worthwhile for employers to avoid creating a culture that promotes fatigue or burnout.
With these tips, learn how to create a fatigue risk management system for your company that keeps your employees safe, healthy, happy, and functioning at their most productive.
Education
Prioritize workplace wellness programs and sleep health education to keep your staff healthy and productive. This includes educating them on the importance of rest, including sleep and taking breaks, to manage fatigue and stay effective in their work. Workplace wellness programs can broach getting proper nutrition, sleep, and exercise to promote overall well-being. Ultimately these programs help keep employees fully engaged and prevent workplace accidents.
Policies
Every workplace is different, but it’s important to have policies and practices in place that clearly define work hours and rest periods. Give employees enough time to rest and recharge between shifts. This includes placing limits on late-night shifts, early morning shifts, scheduling an early morning shift after a long or late-night shift, excessive hours, and the number of hours employees are expected to be on call. Keeping these factors in check can prevent employee fatigue and reduce the risk of accidents or errors.
Environment
Positive environmental controls can reduce stress and mitigate fatigue in the workplace. Designated break areas that are separate from the work areas can give employees a comfortable place to rest. Likewise, nap rooms where employees can take a short nap can help reduce sleepiness and promote mental alertness on the job. Other environmental factors can keep employees alert, such as moderate temperature, clean air, bright lighting, and a quiet environment.
Monitoring and Reporting
Managing fatigue in the workplace requires both management and employees to work together on communicating symptoms, issues, risks, etc. Employees need to feel comfortable enough to report any issues or offer suggestions without negative consequences and work together with management toward solutions.
Additionally, management should be asking staff for feedback on safety or environmental risks, as well as stress or fatigue-related topics. Create procedures for monitoring and reporting incidents and trends; collecting this data will be useful in informing future training and education.
Creating a safe and positive work environment has many benefits. The key is to implement the right plans that work best for your company to improve employee safety, productivity, and job satisfaction but can minimize your company’s risk of workers’ compensation claims.
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