Kimberley Safety and Risk can assist with the development of Policy, Standards, Procedures and Training to assist both companies and employees understand fatigue and how to manage their fitness for work.processes.
Fitness For Work
“Fitness for Work” refers to a state, whether physical, mental and emotional, which enables an individual to perform an assigned task competently and safely. Fitness for Work is a major safety consideration for organisations, especially those that operate in high “safety risk” associated industries, such as:
- Mining
- Aviation
- Marine
- Construction and
- Transport
A well-designed, ethical and consistently implemented Fitness for Work policy can exponentially improve the risk management strategy and safety records of an organisation.
An individual’s Fitness for Work may be adversely affected for a variety of reasons, including:
- Physical impairment
- Medical conditions
- Emotional state
- Fatigue
- Stress
- Alcohol
- Drugs
Fatigue Management
“Fatigue” refers to mental or physical exhaustion that stops a person from being able to function normally. Fatigue is more than simply feeling tired or drowsy. It is caused by prolonged periods of physical and/or mental exertion without enough time to rest and recover.
Fatigue is generally associated with:
- spending long periods of time awake
- having an inadequate amount and/or quality of sleep over an extended period
Fatigue can significantly affect an individual’s capacity to function. Its side-effects include decreased performance and productivity, and increased potential for injuries to occur.
Some Risk Management Strategies for Fatigue includes:
- 1.Reducing the demands imposed by the physical environment, technology and processes through modification and maintenance
- 2.Regular rest and meal breaks
- 3.Job rotation and or enrichment strategies
- 4.Management of manual handling hazards
- 5.Monitoring of operator alertness by supervisor and co-workers
- 6.Training in self monitoring and management strategies
- 7.Effective management of shift work rosters and practices
- 8.Flexible systems of work
- 9.Education to minimise fatigue
Drug and Alcohol Testing
Kimberley Safety and Risk can assist in developing your Drug and Alcohol testing regime and provide qualified personnel to conduct your alcohol, drug and hydration screening.
Did you know?
- Almost 70% of Australian illegal drug users are employed?
- According to Workcover statistics, in serious workplace accidents where alcohol or other drugs are present 80% of the injured are those who didn’t take the drugs.
- 26% of Australian psychiatric patients have a dependency on marijuana.
- In Laboratory confirmations, 90% of the illegal drugs identified is marijuana.
- Mixing marijuana with alcohol increases the risk of having an accident from 3 times to 48 times more likely to occur.
- 2 out of 3 drug users will find it difficult to abstain for a whole day and will “top-up” at work.
