The UK Rail Industry have managed fatigue the same way for over thirty years, working to the Hidden Limits.  These limits were introduced following Clapham Junction Train Disaster in 1988.  The Hidden Limits identify work hours and rest periods for safety critical staff working across the Industry.  However over recent years it is recognised that managing hours of work do not consider the many other contributory factors which can lead to fatigue.  Fatigue remains one of the top twelve key risk areas within the rail industry as identified within ‘Leading Health and Safety on Britain’s Railways’.

Fatigue is generally considered to be a decline in mental and/or physical performance that results from prolonged exertion, sleep loss and/or disruption of a person’s ‘internal clock’.

Worker fatigue can result in:

• lack of attention
• slower reactions
• reduced co-ordination
• decreased awareness
• underestimation of risk
• memory lapses or absent-mindedness
• a reduced ability to process information

Fatigue can arise as a result of excessive working time or poorly designed shift patterns. It is also related to workload, since workers are more easily fatigued if their work is machine-paced, complex or monotonous.  Failure to manage rail staff fatigue properly can have disastrous consequences, as we have seen in the rail industry previously.  Fatigue was also considered a possible causal or contributory factor in at least 74 railway accident and incident reports between 2001 and 2009 (RAIB, East Somerset Junction report 2009).

Recognising the importance of fatigue, on 17 March 2022 Gateway Consultants hosted a webinar to promote discussion around ‘Raising Standards for the Management of Fatigue’.  We were joined by a panel of experts in their field, each bringing a different perspective to the challenges of managing fatigue within the rail infrastructure sector and sharing experiences from other industries.  Once again, we would like to thank all of our panellists for their support.

As part of the webinar, we asked a series of poll questions to gain an insight into the current maturity of fatigue management from those attending the session.  This infographic contains highlights of the results.  There are some reassuring and also interesting responses from 60 of the 110 people who joined the event.

80% already have a fatigue management policy in place with 68% also having a fatigue risk management system.  This is unsurprising as the focus on fatigue within the rail sector has been evident for decades.  Responses indicate that the level of understanding of fatigue risks within respective organisations is good (42%) or reasonable (47%).  Only 12% consider that the level of understanding of fatigue risks to be poor.

Despite having the relevant arrangements and a solid foundation for managing fatigue risks, only 10% of respondents consider their current arrangements to be effective.  A further 70% consider their fatigue risk management arrangements to be reasonably effective.  However, 20% state that there are inconsistencies in deployment resulting in an ineffective management of fatigue risks. This is understandable given some of the challenges raised by the panellists including resource pressures, diverse nature of work and scope of operations as well as communication and cultural barriers.

The industry is embarking on a new way of approaching fatigue, taking a risk-based approach that uses data and scientific knowledge to better inform how fatigue is managed.  The Rail Safety and Standards Board have a dedicated working group (the Fatigue Coordination Group) who aim to improve employee fatigue across the rail industry.  Whilst there is an eagerness to improve existing approaches, there is a lack of depth of understanding of fatigue and the complex issues surrounding this.

Our survey identified the provision of training (awareness briefings and formal training) are often undertaken by organisations (66%), but this is an area identified as an opportunity to further improve the current organisational arrangements: 41% highlighted that raising awareness and understanding of fatigue as a risk is still necessary.  The need for further tools and techniques to improve the management of fatigue risks was also identified as an area of focus (32%).

Remember:

“Fatigue is known to be a factor in about one in five high risk incidents in the rail industry. We believe that this is only the tip of the iceberg”.

Fatigue Co-ordination Group, Rail Safety and Standards Board 2022.

If you would like to view a recording of the webinar, please following this link:

https://www.gatewayhsw.co.uk/fatigue-webinar-live/

We have developed a range of tools and training to support organisations in raising standards for the management of fatigue. If you would like to find out more, please contact us thehub@gatewayhsw.co.uk