Importance of managing fatigue amongst staff

In 2013 two railway maintenance workers died in a road traffic accident as a result of their employer failing to ensure they were sufficiently rested to work and travel safely. 

The two men died when the driver fell asleep at the wheel of a work van and crashed into the back of a lorry parked in a layby on the A1 trunk road. The crash occurred at 5:30am as the van travelled back to a depot after the driver and his colleague had been working as part of a night shift. 

Following a 4-year investigation by the Office of Rail and Road, in March 2020 the employer concerned was found guilty of breaches of the following laws relating to fatigue:

• Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which places general duties on employers to reduce risks so far as is reasonably practicable, including risks from staff fatigue
  
  
• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 requires employers to assess risks arising from their operations and to put in place effective arrangements for the planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of these controls.

At the time of the incident the employer had in place a fatigue risk management policy, fatigue training and procedures in place for managing fatigue risk including a control of working hours procedure and assessment of rosters using Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Fatigue and Risk Index. 

If the employers’ procedures had been followed, they would have done all that was reasonably practicable to negate the risk of injury through fatigue. However, it was the implementation that the courts regarded as inadequate. 

This case represents the first prosecution by the Office and Road and Rail in relation to failures of fatigue management and is likely to have implications for the management of fatigue in all industries. 

Fatigue is a broad term and has implications for many industries. It has been defined by the aviation industry as “a physiological state of reduced mental or physical performance capability, resulting from sleep loss or extended wakefulness, circadian phase, or workload (mental and/or physical activity) that can impair alertness and ability to safely operate…or perform safety-related duties”.

Landscape operations may require employees to work longer hours because of site location or access (e.g. night closure on the motorway and trunk road network) but may also place high demands on employees from physical activity. For this reason, employers must consider fatigue and the measures put into place to mitigate this. The HSE offers specific good practice guidance, available from the Further Reading section of this article.  

Whilst measures to mitigate fatigue risk are important, it is critical employers can demonstrate these are followed. Employers should consider the general approach to fatigue in their organisation and ask potentially difficult questions relating to the company culture; are individuals encouraged to be open about fatigue? Would a person complaining of fatigue be chastised? Do company practices reward employees for working long hours?

Whilst fatigue can affect any employee, infrastructure contractors who travel extensively to deliver works on time-sensitive projects are arguably at greatest risk. Not only from physical pressures but also an archaic attitude to wellbeing. Members are encouraged to reflect on their own policies but, most importantly, ensure their practices and company culture are defensible.     

Further reading:

Health and Safety Executive Guidance