How tired is too tired?
Fatigue is a natural condition that impacts every one of us. Whether it’s a mid-afternoon energy slump or a more severe case precipitated by a sleepless night or extended periods of physical or mental exertion, most of us experience some degree of fatigue every day.
When it comes to drowsiness, we all share something else in common: we are terrible at assessing our own level of fatigue. In fact, as we grow more and more weary, we become less and less capable of adequately gauging our level of impairment. All the while we may be putting ourselves, and others, at significant risk. Within mining operations, fatigue is a leading contributor to 60-70% of human error incidents.
We may acknowledge the warning signs that fatigue is setting in – yawning is one – but how do we know when we’re too tired to work safely?
