HP in Workload, Stress and Fatigue
Never underestimate the risks of fatigue. Fatigue can result in decreased awareness and slower reactions, 'memory lapses' and a reduced ability to process safety critical information.
Fatigue is a decline in mental and/or physical performance caused by factors such as prolonged exertion, excessive and poorly designed shift patterns, body clock disruption and sleep deprivation. It is also related to workload. Personnel are more likely to become fatigued if their work is machine-paced, complex or monotonous.
A variety of tools and techniques are available to assist in the assessment and management of wellbeing at the worksite. Application of these tools will identify opportunities to consider Human Performance principles in addressing Human Factors.
The content for this section is currently under development. If you have any questions or feedback, or wish to share your approach in this area, please email us at admin@hpog.org
Meantime you may wish to look at the resources below:
Energy Institute paper Guidance on Managing Fatigue.
Awareness of the difference between physical and mental workload.
Awareness of the signs, symptoms and contributors to worker fatigue, stress and control measures found in EI briefing notes number 5 and number 19.
Energy Institute video presentation on Sleep Matters.
Awareness of HSE guidance on stress.
Undertake introductory and advanced training:
Enrol on the Human Performance Pathway for the Energy Sector (Energy Institute) :
Select the Introductory Module - building awareness of core human performance challenges.
Enrol on the Human Performance Pathway for the Energy Sector (Energy Institute) :
LEVEL 1. (Basic) Teaches the basics of how to manage human performance day-to-day and is a good starting point for those wanting to become human performance practitioners.
LEVEL 2. (Intermediate) Teaches how to manage human factors more broadly. Learners will need to use ‘intermediate’ level tools and techniques and will review their organisation’s current practices and policies more broadly.
LEVEL 3. (Advanced) Encourages you to improve your ability to manage human performance with a ‘learning by doing’ approach. Targeted at anyone expected to be a human factors manager/champion, subject matter lead or specialist in a chosen topic area (e.g., incident investigators). Learners will use ‘advanced’ (expert) level tools and techniques and specialise in two subject areas of interest.