A 2024 report suggested that more than half of Australia’s working population has gone to work while feeling ‘exhausted’, and this being the case it is little surprise to learn that nearly a quarter of all work place accidents cite fatigue as a contributory factor; that equates to nearly 30 accidents a day, or around 10,000 accidents per year. Furthermore, the cost to Australian industry is estimated to be around $5 billion p.a. due to lost productivity and health care expenses – and then of course, there’s the unspecified personal cost of being involved in a serious accident.

An employer doesn’t necessarily want to hear from staff that they are tired or fatigued, and employees may be reluctant to say so much, but an acceptance that fatigue in the workplace is a serious issue is the first step to addressing this omnipresent problem.

Beyond Midnight, under the leadership of Dr Nick Mabbott – an expert on sleep and the causes and effects of sleep deprivation, provides fatigue management courses and fatigue management training across Australia to industries and businesses of all types. Transport, mining and healthcare provision are the businesses most likely to suffer the effects of fatigued workers – in fact truck drivers are considered to be 4 times more at risk of accidents through fatigue than any other category of worker, and thus amongst the expansive range of training modules provided by Beyond Midnight are those focusing on fatigue training for mining, fatigue training for oil and gas, fatigue training for road transport and sleep and fatigue management for healthcare workers.

However, many of the workplace fatigue training is less specific and the first module ‘The Science of Sleep’, dealing with understanding exactly what sleep is, factors that affect sleep and information on how to improve your sleep, is a mandatory stage of all training packages. Whilst the online version may be the most convenient for many, Dr Nick, steadfast in the belief that face-to-face training remains more effective also provides employee fatigue workshops on site.

Fatigue manifests itself at work in many ways; cognitive function can be impaired to a significant degree, decision making is flawed and reaction times are longer, creating a perfect storm in which accidents may seem to be inevitable, and a key component amongst much of the fatigue risk management training deals with recognising the early signs of impairment through fatigue, how to cope with such situations and ways in which your resilience can be improved.

Responsibility for dealing with fatigue is shared; employees should prioritise sleep and employers should be mindful of shift lengths, provision of breaks and if necessary controlling the amount of overtime worked; consequently, there is a package of supervisor fatigue management training that will be invaluable and will lead to the development of a ‘fit for work culture’ where safety and productivity are sure to be enhanced.

Fatigue and sleep management training online modules can all be conducted at your own pace, and when completed certificates are granted to acknowledge your successful participation.