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fatigue in the workplace. It sets out to: explain the health and safety risk posed by fatigue; provide
the necessary background information on sleep and the body clock; and describe the main
causes of fatigue and provide strategies for managing the causes.
110 Implementation of a fatigue management plan (FMP) in accordance with established guidance
is recommended.
Managing fatigue in the workplace
describes an FMP as a framework designed
to maintain, and when possible enhance safety, performance, and productivity, and manage the
risk of fatigue in the workplace. FMPs typically contain the components of:
policy (including a requirement for auditing processes);
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training (to help identify signs and symptoms of fatigue, and to adopt coping strategies);
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tracking incidents/metrics; and
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support (including medical and wellbeing support).
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111 Monitoring of actual shifts worked and overtime, on an individual basis, is a key practical
point for dutyholders and managers.
Control room working conditions
112 Control room issues should focus on ensuring operators (both individually and as teams) can
develop, maintain and communicate shared situation awareness.
113 It is well established that shift work and fatigue may affect safety (eg HSG48, HSG256) and
failure to provide suitable and sufficient breaks is a contributory factor. Guidance on rest and
meal breaks is given in HSG256, which states that frequent short breaks can reduce fatigue,
improve productivity and may reduce the risk of errors and accidents, especially when the work is
demanding or monotonous.
114 Breaks are better taken away from the immediate workplace ie in this case, away from the
control room and the immediate work station(s). It is recognised that there may need to be some
flexibility in doing this, but the flexibility should not override the principle of allowing adequate rest
and meal breaks away from the job.
115 EEMUA 201 notes that the overall environment of the control room can also contribute
heavily to the effectiveness of control room staff. This includes, for example:
different users of the control room;
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dividing into primary and secondary users;
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considering the needs of each set of users;
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ensuring there is no conflict between users;
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controlling access;
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environment;
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blast resistance;
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lighting;
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heating and ventilation;
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noise levels;
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furnishings and colour schemes;
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console design;
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many factors to take into account (see EEMUA 201# for detail);
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safety requirements;
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fire prevention, control and emergency exits;
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other operational support requirements;
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meeting room/office facilities;
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PCs (if not incorporated into the console).
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Summary
116 Dutyholders should ensure they can demonstrate that staffing arrangements are adequate to
detect, diagnose and recover any reasonably credible hazardous scenario.