Introduction
Fatigue affects a person’s health, increases the chance of workplace injuries occurring, and reduces performance and productivity within the workplace. This publication, Fatigue – Prevention in the workplace, will assist people with duties under occupational health and safety laws (OHS laws) comply with those laws in relation to fatigue in the workplace. This guide provides advice that is generally applicable to any workplace within NSW and Victoria where fatigue is a health and safety issue. This guide contains general information for employers and employees (including volunteers) in any job or industry. The guide can also be used by suppliers, importers, manufacturers and independent contractors. It complements other fatigue-related publications that apply to particular
industries (see references on page 24).
The factors contributing to fatigue outlined in this guide are:
- the mental and physical demands of work
- work scheduling and planning
- working time
- environmental conditions, and
- individual factors.
This guide explains how these factors and the way work is designed can be improved to address and reduce the risk of fatigue in the workplace.