Driver Fatigue on the Job

What we know

Whatever the source – lack of or poor-quality sleep, long hours of work or driving, shift work, stress, or sleep disorders – fatigue affects your ability to drive safely. Driver fatigue is a major workplace safety risk.

• As many as one in five fatal crashes in the general population involve driver fatigue.1
• Companies use a fatigue risk management system to promote alertness among workers, identify fatigue-prone tasks, and lessen fatigue and its potential consequences.2
• After 17 consecutive hours awake, impairment is equivalent to having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .05. After 24 hours awake, impairment is equivalent to a BAC of .10.3
• A survey of the U.S. workforce found that 37% of workers got less than the recommended minimum of 7 hours of sleep.4
• Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each day.5

Causes and effects

What employers can do

• Use a fatigue risk management system (FRMS) to promote alertness among workers, identify fatigue-prone tasks, and lessen fatigue and its potential consequences.2 Here's what you need to know before starting an FRMS and how to manage fatigue using the fatigue-risk chain.
• Set policies for maximum numbers of overtime hours and consecutive shifts.
• Monitor compliance with federal hours-of-service regulations for drivers covered by them.
• Ensure sufficient staffing levels across operations, factoring in the inevitable absences that occur due to vacation days, sickness, and turnover.
• Implement a workplace sleep disorder screening/management program.
• Provide worker training on sleep health and fatigue management.
• Allow for rest breaks and napping during extended work shifts.
• Give supervisors and workers fatigue-symptom checklists and encourage self-reporting.
• Encourage peer monitoring of fatigue symptoms among co-workers.
• Review data from in-vehicle monitoring technologies to detect signs of possible fatigue episodes, such as lane departures.
• Consider using physiological measurement (e.g., wearables such as instrumented wristbands and sunglasses) to monitor driver fatigue.
• Communicate the following to workers:
  • Get enough sleep (7-9 hours each day). If fatigue persists after adequate sleep, get screened for health problems that may be affecting your sleep, such as sleep apnea.
  • If you feel fatigued while driving: pull over, drink a cup of coffee, and take a 15-30 minute nap before continuing (research shows it works!).
• During incident investigations, collect data on sleep history of workers involved, hours worked leading up to the incident, time of day, and hours of driving. Train incident investigators to assess the role of fatigue in incidents and near-miss incidents.

What workers can do

• Plan your off-duty activities to allow enough time for adequate sleep.
• Get enough sleep (7-9 hours each day). If fatigue persists after adequate sleep, get screened for health problems that may be affecting your sleep, such as sleep apnea.
• Create a sleeping environment that helps you sleep well: a dark, quiet, cool room with no electronics.
• If you feel fatigued while driving: pull over, drink a cup of coffee, and take a 15-30 minute nap before continuing. The effects are only temporary – the only "cure" for fatigue is sleep.
• Watch yourself and your peers for fatigue-related symptoms.
• Report instances of fatigue in yourself and others to your direct supervisor, who can help to determine the safest course of action.
• Speak honestly if you are questioned about a fatigue-related incident. Fatigue is a normal biological response – it is not a reflection of how well you do your job.

Resources

• About Fatigue and Work web page
• Oil and Gas Extraction Employers: How to Prevent Fatigued Driving at Work NIOSH Publication No. 2018-125
• Oil and Gas Extraction Workers: How to Prevent Fatigued Driving at Work NIOSH Publication No. 2018-126