Description
Fatigue is one of the most underestimated human limitations in safety-critical work. It erodes decision-making, slows reaction time, impairs hazard recognition, and undermines operational precision. Yet despite these high stakes, fatigue risks are routinely overlooked—suppressed by production pressures, stigma, lack of awareness, and a persistent underestimation of their real-world impact.
To effectively manage fatigue, we must first understand it. This presentation guides participants through the foundations of sleep science and connects that science to the creation of risk. Attendees will gain practical insight into how fatigue manifests, why it is often missed, and what workers, leaders and organizations can do to better recognize and address it.
Because fatigue touches every aspect of our waking hours, it also intersects deeply with psychological health. This presentation explores the two-way relationship between sleep and psychological wellbeing, offering evidence-based strategies for strengthening both.
Drawing on extensive experience with heavy industry and shift-working operations, the session will highlight real-world examples where fatigue and psychological risks were either overlooked or successfully identified and mitigated. Participants will see how integrating practical fatigue-awareness habits with psychologically safe communication measurably improves hazard recognition, reporting culture, and overall human performance—especially in high-stress, 24/7 environments.
Attendees will leave with tools and strategies they can immediately apply to improve their own sleep, heighten awareness of fatigue-related risks, support healthier decision-making, and strengthen frontline safety outcomes.