Fatigue arises from mental or physical exertion or illness, the sustained or repetitive nature of which results in accumulated tiredness, reduces concentration, and increases the risk of harm. Fatigue arises where the demands of a worker's occupation are sustained over extended periods of time or so intense within a short period of time, or otherwise a combination of the two, which in combination with inappropriate downtime or insufficient recovery, result in degraded performance, increased risk of injury, as well as potential health effects. Workers are humans, and humans have human bodies, with limitations of concentration, exertion, performance and endurance. Every worker's body is different, and so different workers may have different physical capacities and limits. Additionally, within the same person, their capacity for work and their maximum safe sustainable output may be affected by their immediate state of mind, their duties of care and family outside of work, and other factors which may have nothing to do with their workplace.
Workers with human bodies need rest to recover from their efforts so that their rest and recuperation can support sustainable ongoing participation, in the same way an athlete needs to rest and stretch between bouts of effort at training and competition. Mental and physical engagement with work tasks places strain on the body, and this strain is met by the body's metabolic, physiological, and biological means. Colloquially, the human brain is understood to consume roughly one fifth to one quarter of the body's energy output every day as a function of command, decisionmaking, and of keeping the body alive. In times of stress, intense work, illness, or other disruption, people may experience mental, decisionmaking, concentration, or specific fatigue that causes forgetfulness, vagueness, or irritability. A particular example of this arises following concussion or after a blow to the head. Beyond the brain, people need to use their bodies to work, whether they are sitting at a desk and typing or working on a jobsite, the human body needs to maintain and move between postures, carry its own weight in addition to external loads, to kneel, crouch, push, pull, lift, hold tools, and manage the strain of the day. The result of this is that fatigue may be felt globally within the body as a sense of tiredness or within specific limbs and structures as a consequence of specific or repetitive usage.
Workers may be more exposed to and experience greater concentration of risks arising from fatigue where the design of work creates concentrations of work intensity or where shift times may be uncontrolled. Intense work, such as that which occurs during times of high demand - lunch and dinner services at restaurants, end-of-quarter reporting in professional businesses, or getting orders in before the end of the year, can increase workers' engagement demands and so increase the strain from which the worker must recover. Extended work, such as being on-call outside of office hours, working multiple shifts in short order, being required to complete work at home or offsite, or even extended travel associated with work can affect a workers' sense of tiredness. This fatigue can affect performance and risk at work as well as affect a worker's safety when commuting to and from work, at home, or in the community - workers are workers when they are at work, but they are human always and so also always have human needs and vulnerabilities. Workplaces are obliged to appreciate, monitor, and control the intensities and extensiveness of the demands to which their workers are exposed, so as to minimise their risks and maximise their performance and safety.
Each workplace is different, with different demands, methods of business, and is staffed by people whose capacities, needs, and risk profiles are different. Managing ergonomic, environmental, and occupational health and safety challenges requires a business to examine and engage with the ecosystem of factors that give rise to risk, and how that risk may affect people. Each workplace is different and so sometimes the same problem will require different solutions. This applies to workers as well - every person is different and so may require different support, supervision, or resources to perform comfortably and sustainably. Under Work Health and Safety law, consultation with the workforce, the control of risk as far as is reasonably practicable, and the provision of information, training, instruction and support to the worker by the workplace, is essential to meet obligations to provide workers with a workplace that is as free of risk as far is reasonably practicable.
In our capacity as consultants, Atlas Physio will explore and scope the business and its needs, examining how exposures, risks, and processes contribute to the hazard ecosystem, best inform the design and arrangement of procedural, policy-based, and practical risk controls. Our solutions are tailored to the needs of those with whom we work, implemented in a simple, sustainable, and supportive fashion, designed to be robust and resilient, and to support the ongoing life of the business as well as the sustainable wellbeing of the workers who undertake the day to day activities of work.
At Atlas Physio, we provide reporting, structured control, and ongoing management of risk onsite, on the road, and wherever work is done. We are open seven days a week, and are happy to offer a brief complimentary discussion to explore the needs of your business and your workers if you are an employer, and your needs if you are a worker. Reach out today to arrange a discussion and take the first step toward managing risk and working safely, supported by expertise that is practical, reliable, and designed to deliver lasting results.