Did you know that according to a 2020 survey report by the National Safety Council (NSC), one-third of the population suffers from fatigue at work.
When it comes to those who are fatigued at the very least, 43 % say they’re tired to the point that not being able to concentrate or focus on work-related tasks becomes difficult throughout the working week.
It is obvious that employees who can’t concentrate on their work will result in lower efficiency levels at your company. Lower productivity levels will eventually result in lower revenue, sales and profits margins. Furthermore, workers who are severely fatigued are also at a heightened risk for workplace accidents and injuries, which can cost business owners further money via workers compensation payments and time away from work.
Fatigue management in the workplace is thus an important, but often neglected, element in human resource supervision.
Below, we provide a brief overview of the impact of fatigue on the workplace. We then give our top three suggestions to manage stress and fatigue at work.
Effects of Fatigue in the Workplace
As we’ve mentioned earlier, fatigued workers can result in a lack of concentration and low levels of engagement. If employees are continuously exhausted, their productivity drop as well as the overall quality of work itself will suffer. In the words of “the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine” the effects of fatigue on workers could lead to “slowed response time, diminished alertness, decreased decision-making capacity and poor judgement, as well as distraction in difficult tasks and lack of alertness in stressful circumstances.”
If your workplace environment has dangerous machinery or other obvious worker hazards, fatigued workers will be at a heightened risk for serious accidents, injuries, or worse.
Three Tips for Managing Fatigue in the Workplace
As a recent academic study discovers:
“…fatigue is the end result of integration of multiple factors such as time awake, time of day, and
workload. Then, the full understanding of circadian biological clocks, dynamics of transient and
cumulative sleep loss, and recovery is required for effective management of workplace fatigue.”
With these many factors that contribute to chronic fatigue Some strategies to help to prevent or manage fatigue are:
Introduce Occupational Sleep Medicine
This specialised occupational medicine field applies the study of sleep, the strategies, techniques, methods, and protocols of measuring “performance and sleep” in the workplace and the clinical application of sleep medicine to decrease the chance of poor performance as well as the vulnerability to workplace-related accidents. Sleep medicine in the workplace can be especially beneficial for employees who work irregular or long hours and need assistance finding ways to create healthy sleep habits. Think about referring them to specialists or even hosting a lunch-and-learn or workshop.
Manage Environmental Factors That Cause Workplace Fatigue
Certain environmental elements can increase the negative impact of fatigue. Repetitive, loud noise, inadequate lighting, high heat and humidity and machine vibrations, and many other environmental factors could cause fatigue for workers. Making sure these factors are managed for optimal comfort and relaxation will also help keep employees more focused.
Schedule Shifts to Avoid Long-Term Accumulation of Fatigue
If workers are consistently working for long or irregular hours, fatigue in the workers may build up over time. The adverse consequences of loss of sleep could lead to increased fatigue and impairment to performance in the course of the week. One method to eliminate the issue is to give employees a longer break after a couple of long shifts which may be causing them to become fatigued.
Read our another article on “What Is Ergonomic Furniture? And Benefits Of Ergonomic Furniture“
Follow us on “Linkedin“