‘Spotlight on… worker fatigue’ follow-up article

In September 2019, the Scheme launched ‘Spotlight on… worker fatigue’ to raise awareness of this significant health and safety issue facing the industry.

How can fatigue affect health and safety?

Fatigue can slow reaction times, create lapses in judgement, reduce concentration and coordination, diminish cognitive ability and cause individuals to underestimate risk.

In the construction industry, individuals can often endure physically and mentally demanding work over long hours and irregular shift patterns and in an industry where hazardous activity is commonplace, this can cause a significant range of issues.

Views from the construction industry

Of over 1000 construction industry professionals surveyed in 2019, 75% thought that worker fatigue is a problem within the industry. However there appeared to be a lack of awareness as 73% believed that it is an overlooked hazard and only 5% had a thorough understanding of the regulations surrounding it.

In response to these concerning statistics, the Considerate Constructors Scheme launched ‘Spotlight on… worker fatigue’ in September 2019. It provides a variety of free resources to allow everyonehttps://staging.ccsbestpractice.org.uk/spotlight-on/spotlight-on-worker-fatigue/ to improve their knowledge and understanding of worker fatigue. This includes examples of best practice and practical guidance and also a range of case studies from organisations involved in the Scheme, including: A-one+, J. Murphy & Sons, Morgan Sindall and VolkerRail.

What’s changed?

Scheme Monitors visit thousands of construction sites and offices every year, providing them with insights into industry attitudes and practices.

Monitors took part in a survey earlier this year to understand if the industry has shown any developments in knowledge and awareness of the issue of worker fatigue in the months since the launch.

Survey results

Many factors inherent in construction work exacerbate fatigue, so it may take a while for lasting change to take effect within the industry, however the results of the survey conducted with Scheme Monitors demonstrate progress is being made, following the launch of the learning toolkit:

Although awareness seems to have increased, the survey also indicates there is still room for improvement and action:

What next?

Following this feedback, ‘Spotlight on…worker fatigue’ has now been further developed with some excellent examples of how the construction industry has been tackling the issue since its launch, as well as a new case study.

A new case study has been published in conjunction with Gym On Site, an organisation who conduct onsite stretch-and-flex programmes. The study explains why these programmes are beneficial to workforce health. Read the case study here.

A new e-learning course is also available to continue to raise awareness and understanding of the impact worker fatigue has in the construction industry.

This free course aims to increase understanding of worker fatigue and is available to all Best Practice Hub registered users.

Click here to take ‘Worker Fatigue’ e-learning