What is Fatigue?

• Fatigue is more than feeling tired and drowsy. In a work context, fatigue is a state of mental and/or physical exhaustion which reduces a person’s ability to perform work safely and effectively.
• It can occur because of prolonged mental or physical activity, sleep loss and/or disruption of the internal body clock.
• Fatigue can be caused by factors which may be work related, non-work related or a combination of both and can accumulate over time.

Why is fatigue a problem?

Fatigue can adversely affect safety at the workplace. Fatigue reduces alertness which may lead to errors and an increase in incidents and injuries, particularly when:

• operating fixed or mobile plant, including driving vehicles
• undertaking critical tasks that require a high level of concentration
• undertaking night or shift work when a person would ordinarily be sleeping.

The effects of fatigue can be short or long term. In the short term a person may show the signs or report the symptoms of fatigue outlined in “How can you tell if someone is fatigued?“.

The longer term health effects of fatigue can include:

• heart disease
• diabetes
• high blood pressure
• gastrointestinal disorders
• lower fertility
• anxiety
• depression.