Does your safety program account for employee fatigue?
November 2, 2010 by Fred HosierPosted in: fatigue, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, New rules and regulations, OSHA news, What's Working in Safety
PDF Imagine this: A big order or a crisis requires lots of overtime for your employees. Where would you draw the line on OT because of worker fatigue?
If you haven’t thought about that scenario, you may have to in the near future.
OSHA administrator David Michaels says the agency has no plans to create an employee fatigue standard, but it would expect companies to address the issue as part of its injury and illness prevention program (i2p2) proposal. Michaels made his comment in a meeting with reporters at the National Safety Council (NSC) Congress and Expo.
The program would require employers to develop and implement a program that minimizes worker exposure to safety and health hazards. Instead of waiting for an OSHA inspection or a workplace incident to address workplace hazards, employers would be required to create a plan for identifying and correcting hazards, and then implement the plan. Some states, including California, already require companies to have such programs.
Michaels has referenced California’s plan as an example that OSHA will explore.
At the NSC meeting, Michaels also referenced the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) Fatigue Risk Management System for Personnel in the Refining and Petrochemical Industries as an example of how companies can investigate the effect of fatigue on their workers.
API created the voluntary standard in response to recommendations made by the Chemical Safety Board after its investigation in the explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery in 2005 that killed 15 workers.
Has your company contemplated fatigue’s effect on workplace safety? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
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Tags: David Michaels, employee fatigue, injury and illness prevention program
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October 27th, 2010 at 8:59 am
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October 27th, 2010 at 9:12 am
One thing we do to “kind of” address this issue is on our incident reports, we list the normal shift for the injured and the time of the injury. If it happens outside of their “normal” shift, fatigue is considered as a root or contributing cause. Fatigue could be a factor at anytime but is more likely when outside their regular shift and/or in excess of 40 hours.
October 27th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
I know of time-motion studies that have shown 40-50hrs a week to be optimum. As the hours get higher, productivity falls. At extreme levels (12hr days, 7 days/week) productivity is less that 40 hrs./ week! Careful consideration should be made to any workweek over 60 hrs., and in no case should you go to 7 days/ week. A comprehensive safety program is necessary for best practices. There are many sources for safety programs. First, you can check with OSHA, or many states have program templates you may use. http://www.contractorsafetyplans.com is a great site for safety programs for construction safety programs. http://www.cpwr.org is another good site with lots of information for craftworkers, and of course http://www.osha.gov ‘s site as well.
October 29th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
As safety guy at a taxi company, I’ve written newsletter articles regarding fatigue. Letting my drivers and dispatchers know what “danger signs” to look for will be a help in safeguarding my fleet. The staff already know that any necessary breaks are encouraged.
November 2nd, 2010 at 11:51 am
I talk extensively about fatigue in our DOT Entry Level Driver Training. I also talk abut it with management and project leaders. Bottom line - one manager cares, one doesn’t… At crunch time all bets are off.