While employers are advised they look after their workforce and provide guidance for them to ensure they maintain healthy habits, they can’t control the factors outside the workplace.
Network Rail decided to take action to improve the work conditions on-site and take a step in the right direction in their mission to address this problem. The new set of fatigue management regulations NR/L2/OHS/003 is set to come into effect on 29 October 2022.
With this date fast approaching, contractors are starting to feel the pressure to revisit their strategy against workplace fatigue, as the new standard will directly impact more than 150,000 people across the sector. Radically changing how fatigue is managed.
The innDex system has been specially designed and developed to fall in line with Network Rail Standards, prioritising workforce fatigue from the outset, before a worker even sets foot on site.
What is workforce fatigue and why is it a problem?
Employers have a legal requirement to manage staff fatigue, and failure to do so can have disastrous consequences.
There is no single agreed definition of fatigue, but we will consider fatigue as “a state of perceived weariness that can result from prolonged working, heavy workload, insufficient rest and inadequate sleep” (ORR, 2012).
In fact, the effects of serious fatigue can be compared to being over the drink driving limit, causing poor judgements, slow reactions, poor memory, and impaired vision. In the rail industry, fatigue is the cause of 20% of high-risk incidents, and over the past five years the sector has experienced an average of 36 yearly worker fatalities (RIDDOR, 2016/17-2020/21).
3.1 million people are employed as shift workers in the UK, and fatigue has been implicated in 20% of accidents costing the industry £115 – £240 million per year (an estimation based on the whole UK Construction Sector).
What’s new?
According to Network Rail, the previous standard only concerned the safety of critical workers while the new framework applies to everyone across the supply chain, and those working on Network Rail infrastructure, systems and assets.
Instead of imposing limits on how much people can work, the new framework introduces “triggers” to signal the need for mitigating actions, such as mandatory rest periods and duties reallocation, including invigilation.
This new approach encourages companies to monitor fatigue and carry out risk management consistently, embedding a behavioural change in how we will tackle fatigue across the industry in the long run.
How can I make sure I am managing fatigue effectively?
For years, fatigue management processes have fallen short, and companies have struggled to adequately manage fatigue with processes being very manual and working hours being assessed when it’s too late. With innDex, real-time automated notifications are sent out to managers and workers proactively. When Working Hours Policies are breached, a worker will be notified and can finish their shift and leave site safely or their responsible manager can carry out a risk assessment quickly through the innDex platform, which is stored as evidence against a worker’s breach.
To manage fatigue, it’s important to be able to monitor workers’ hours and movements across every site that they work on. Using innDex, each worker will have their own profile – their construction passport. Each innDex profile serves as an individual’s unique user identifier: meaning that on and off-site traffic can be monitored in real-time and the management team is automatically notified when an individual signs in or out of their shift. This not only provides each worker with an immutable proof-of-presence, but also allows smoother shift tracking on an individual case basis, protecting restricted areas from anyone lacking proper training and documentation, and boosting the correct implementation and success of our Fatigue Management feature.
Once inducted, the innDex Fatigue Management tool enables resource planning, allowing contractors to roster their workforce 3 weeks in advance (or more) as dictated by the new Network Rail regulations.
In addition to this, managers are able to track workers’ site hours for real-time fatigue management, with the “planned vs. actuals” feature. For example, if an individual works 2 hours over their planned shifts, the extra time will be flagged to the manager, recorded and, if required, subtracted from their next shift automatically. Raising awareness around the importance of planning to reduce fatigue and driving transparency across the supply chain.
Shift reports and history can be accessed on the platform on an individual or cumulative case basis when needed. By looking at raw data, the management team can perform deep data analysis and pattern recognition to take evidence-based actions. Now’s the time to be proactive, innovate and get ahead of the curve in Fatigue Management.
Click here to find out more about how innDex is being used to manage fatigue in line with the new Network Rail Standards and increasing efficiencies and savings across the supply chain.
Need help implementing a Fatigue Management strategy?
Get in touch at support@inndex.co.uk or book a free demo here.
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