Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features the release of a new review in ACOEM’s Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that examined the major causes of occupational fatigue, which can impair mental and physical performance with the potential for serious errors and injuries.
Reviewers noted that the major drivers of fatigue were sleep deprivation and workplace environmental factors like noise, vibration, and temperature, which could also be compounded by or interact with other factors like higher work loads and long hours. Consequences of fatigue were primarily short-term degradation in cognitive and physical function, with illness, human error, and injuries also occurring to a lesser extent. Reviewers also noted that while fatigue affects 20% of the US working population, resulting in more than $136 billion in lost productivity and health care costs each year, it may only receive attention after major disasters.
Find out more (including a link to the free article!) by clicking here!