Overview and Scope

Fatigue is more than just “tired”; it’s your body’s response to inadequate sleep, mental or physical stressors, or a lack of recovery time, among other causes. Fatigue can manifest in a variety of ways including cognitive impairment, decreased reaction speeds, or muscular weakness.

Impacts from fatigue are most often seen in occupations that require long hours, rotating shifts, and routine physical exertion, including: first responders, law enforcement officers, healthcare providers, and construction.

However, fatigue can impact any worker, in any role, at any time.

FATIGUE FACTS

• Compared to day shifts, workers on evening shifts are at 18% greater risk of injury. That risk increases to 30% on the night shift. ¹
• A 12-hour work shift translates to a 37% increase in injury risk on the job and increased risks of vehicular crashes on the way home. _²
• Fatigue is suspected to have played a role in several high-profile incidents including the Challenger disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown. ³

The National Safety Council’s latest Safety Innovation Challenge aims to bring the best of 21^st century technologies to measure, mitigate, or reduce fatigue in the workplace, all with a goal of driving down rates of fatigue-related injuries and fatalities.

All proposed technologies for this Challenge must either:

• Measure, detect, or predict fatigue through physiological, behavioral, or performance-based indicators.
  Possible pathways include (but are not limited to): wearables for individual workers, predictive analytics software, screening solutions, driver safety systems
• Mitigate the consequences of fatigue
  Possible pathways include (but are not limited to): vehicle safety systems, workplace safety systems
• Directly or indirectly reduce fatigue
  Possible pathways include (but are not limited to): workforce management solutions, drones/robotics, instructional applications

All proposed technologies must demonstrate evidence of measurable impact on fatigue through validated studies, field trials, or documented outcomes, beyond theoretical or speculative claims.