Impact of Fatigue on the Workplace

Impact of Fatigue on the Workplace Introduction Exposure to work-related fatigue is rising in todays 24-hour culture, which is progressively dominated by knowledge work. Fatigue from a medical point of view refers to a state of weakness of the body and the mind that affects everybody (Phillips, 2015). Fatigue is mostly related to exertive situations of work. Fatigue is an intricate problem that can be ascribed to numerous factors. Hence, it is problematic to define (Phillips, 2015). This essay seeks to explain the idea of fatigue and also discuss its effects in the working place. The paper then further discusses the types of workplaces, and work settings that the fatigue exists; the safety and health effects, both acute and chronic that may be associated with exposure to fatigue.It also discusses the federal and state agencies and standards used to regulate the hazard; traditional means of monitoring fatigue and measuring the effects it has the working place; Analysis of the possible causes of the fatigue. Finally, discuss various countermeasures to be used to manage fatigue in the workplace. Causes of Fatigue in the Workplace Fatigue is mainly a problem in safety sensitive areas, such as transport. The costs of fatigue are broadly studied in professional settings. There are numerous factors at both; in the place of work and out of the location of work which can impact levels of fatigue. The most significant factor that causes fatigue is the lack of enough sleep. In addition to the lack of sleep, fatigue can be induced by the type of work done and on the coworker. Occupational Safety Health (OSH) proposes that there are four categories of work in this regard. Fatigue can be induced through any of these four categories. These groups include self-generated stress, healthy work, poorly organized work, intrinsically stressful work. Self-generated stress occurs when a worker creates his/her stressors because of individual choices. ÂÂ  A person in this group might be trying to do many jobs, or agreeing to unrealistic demands on themselves (Rahman et al., 2017).Healthy work is work that is pleasing, motivating, satisfying and exciting. A valuation of this kind of job discloses this type of work does not induce fatigue to the worker directly rather it induces stress to resources. Poorly organized work is usually pleasing and fulfilling but structured in such a way that it becomes difficult for most people doing the work to cope with. Jobs in this category can be done safely but are often being worked too many hours in each week(Rahman et al., 2017). This can quickly induce fatigue to the person involved. The last group of work may be essentially more problematic to handle than others. Some cases of work that may be difficult to handle are work that is emotionally challenging, draining or even work that involve s long periods of intense concentration; work that has high costs from error (medicine, policing air traffic control, social work) (Han et al.,2014). The Safety and Health Effects of Fatigue Fatigue is experienced by everyone irrespective of abilities, skills, and training. The most common effects of fatigue include poor judgment, information processing decrease of attentiveness and work motivation, longer reaction time, reduced concentration, and problems with memory. Studies show that fatigue in workplaces costs over 18 billion $ a year in the US (Caruso, 2014). Also, fatigued workers have deprived communication with their environment and get irritated easily. Therefore, a fatigued employee is possibly dangerous to themselves and their fellow employees, and most of the unfortunate incidents are found among fatigued workers. Serious accidents that have been reported in recent five decades have been credited to workers fatigue. The Three Mild, The Challenger Explosion,The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill,American Airlines Flight 1420 Crash incidents are considered to be the most disastrous incident on U.S. soil; all these accidents are attributed to human error (Caruso, 2014). Chronic effects of fatigue may follow chronic exposures to severe fatigue or portray a continuous failure of adequate rest. Continuous exposure to severe fatigue causes chronic circadian disruption of the immune response and intensify risks of emerging cardiac diseases (Boivin Boudreau, 2014). The distraction of the daily regulation of human transcriptome is another mechanism behind fatigue. Also, postponing sleep by four hours for three successive days has led to decrease of the human blood transcriptome. Fatigue also alters hormonal and sleepiness cycles and the lipid and glucose metabolism, which may lead to the development of other diseases like obesity. Studies have shown that severe fatigue cumulatively rises the rate at which performance declines across wakefulness (Caruso, 2014). Fatigue favors sleeping illnesses such as insomnia and hinders with behavior. Insomnia is defined as the incapacity to sleep and to remain asleep for a desired period. It is a very common sleep illness that is related to unbalanced work hours. Sleep hypopnea is sleep disorder which is very common among overweight men who often snore. This condition is not caused by fatigue directly, but it is associated with fatigue in a way that it causes sleep deprivation which increases the fondness for food with high calories that may cause overweight and metabolic changes (Caruso, 2014). It may also affect the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular functions by altering hormonal and sleepiness cycles and increase peptic ulcer and symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome. Standards Used to Regulate Work Fatigue Reducing fatigue involves both state and company regulation and control as well as the efforts of the workers. OHS laws have been designed to guarantee that the health and security of everybody in the workplace is keenly observed. Every employer is urged to offer a possible working environment which is safe and does not risk the health of employees. Workers also have an obligation to take care of their health and wellbeing and that of their coworkers and follow measures the management takes to conform with OHS laws.There are also various international standards that have been in place to help regulate fatigue in the workplace.For example, the International Safety Management Code states that if fatigue, lack of adequate rest, or excessive hours of work are or should be apparent, the employer should intervene to solve the problem immediately. All this laws and standards are put in place to help the employers and employees manage fatigue effectively. Fatigue Measurement and Monitoring Studies show that fatigue is a complex problem that cannot be simply monitored and measured in working place(Wright et al., 2013). Most workers are unwilling to express signs of fatigue. Also, no instrument has been designed to measure fatigue, because of definitional difficulties of fatigue, the huge effects fatigue has on human skills, and multiple causes of fatigue. However, to be able to manage fatigue in the workplace effectively, fatigue must first be identified, measured and then analyze their causes. There exist very many tools available to be used for this purpose including articles, books, rules, and questionnaires. Some instruments are inaccurate and inconclusive. It is, therefore, important to identify the most appropriate for the workplace and acquire sufficient knowledge about the various benefits and shortcomings of each instrument in the workplace. Availability of this instruments allows the management and employees to identify, measure and manage fatigue in their pla ce of work, determine the useful methods for evading fatigue or the probability of it occurring.They are also able to study some managing strategies to be used to control fatigue and perform through accident surveys after the occurrence of problems induced by fatigue.The measurement carried out in the workplace can determine one dimension of fatigue or multiple dimensions. The one-dimensional scale is the most important dimension that is used for measuring fatigue. Its variety is mainly used for research and clinical purposes. Multi-dimensional assessment of fatigue (MAF) is another type of subjective quantification of fatigue.It indicates the degree of fatigue experienced by a worker one week ago.However, the Piper Fatigue Scale is the most accurate scale for quantification of fatigue. It contains various additional features to measure how fatigue interferes with daily living activities and the timing of fatigue. The second method of identifying fatigue is by investigating the various correlates of fatigue which include sleep and depression. These correlates are used to predict if a worker suffers from effects of fatigue. Its typical application is a valuation of fatigue for academic researchers. There exist various methods of measuring how tired a person is. Epworth Sleepiness Scale is one of the common standard methods used. It illustrations how a worker is likely to sleep during the daytime or working periods (Dawson et al., 2014). Another instrument used in fatigue measurement is the Horne-Ostberg Questionnaire (HOQ). The questionnaire contains nineteen questions that aim to determine when respondents would desire to awake or sleep. (Dawson et al.,2014). There are more other instruments used for measuring and identifying fatigue. This research mainly focuses on the three most important that have been discussed above. The other common methods include: Sleep questionnaires, sleep diaries, a ctigraphy, and polysomnography, symptom distress scale (SDS) 13-items questionnaire (Dawson et al.,2014). Fatigue can also be measured physiologically through various methods. These methods include eye blink rates, the temperature of the skin, and response and reaction time. Conclusion ÂÂ   As discussed above fatigue can be caused by very many factors in the workplace. It is there necessary to come up with multiple tactics to address various types and causes of this hazard. These strategies can be classified into two categories: Operational strategies which are used during the job; preventive strategies which are mostly implemented before working hours and during rest time (Darwent et al., 2015). Different methods can be applied in the preventive strategy. Most of them help to relieve fatigue symptoms temporarily.These strategies include: minimize sleep loss, teaching healthy sleeping behaviors to the workers, and stimulators (Darwent et al., 2015). It is important to note that laws and compliance cannot resolve all the issues connected to fatigue. The workers behavior is also significant. The workers are advised to rest and avoid caffeine and alcohol before sleeping. It is highly recommended to spend most of the free time in daylight and to participate variou s activities to promote activeness during the day. Recommendation Work fatigue is among the top ten issue in the modern industry, mainly due to long duty periods, circadian rhythms distraction and continuous sleep debt. The full understanding and further evaluation of the potentials of various preventive strategies, and individual fatigue mitigation management systems is recommended. Additional research should be done on the different methods of measuring and quantifying dynamics of transient, circadian biologic clock and cumulative sleep, and recovery to help in efficient management of fatigue in the workplace. Furthermore, a software tool to be used for fatigue prediction should be developed. References Dawson, D., Searle, A. K., Paterson, J. L. (2014). Look before you (s) sleep: evaluating the use of fatigue detection technologies within a fatigue risk management system for the road transport industry. Sleep medicine reviews, 18(2), 141-152. Han, K., Trinkoff, A. M., Geiger-Brown, J. (2014). Factors associated with work-related fatigue and recovery in hospital nurses working 12-hour shifts. Workplace health safety, 62(10), 409-414. Rahman, H. A., Abdul-Mumin, K., Naing, L. (2017). Psychosocial Work Stressors, Work Fatigue, and Musculoskeletal Disorders: Comparison between Emergency and Critical Care Nurses in Brunei Public Hospitals. Asian Nursing Research. Wright, K. P., Bogan, R. K., Wyatt, J. K. (2013). Shift work and the assessment and management of shift work disorder (SWD). Sleep medicine reviews, 17(1), 41-54. Boivin, D. B., Boudreau, P. (2014). Impacts of shift work on sleep and circadian rhythms. Pathologie Biologie, 62(5), 292-301. Dawson, D., Searle, A. K., Paterson, J. L. (2014). Look before you (s) sleep: evaluating the use of fatigue detection technologies within a fatigue risk management system for the road transport industry. Sleep medicine reviews, 18(2), 141-152. Darwent, D., Dawson, D., Paterson, J. L., Roach, G. D., Ferguson, S. A. (2015). Managing fatigue: It is about sleep. Accident Analysis Prevention, 82, 20-26. Caruso, C. C. (2014). Negative impacts of shift work and long work hours. Rehabilitation Nursing, 39(1), 16-25. Phillips, R. O. (2015). A review of definitions of fatigue-And a step towards a whole definition. Transportation research part F: TrafficPsychology and Behavior, 29, 48-56.

John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men :: Essays Papers

Of Mice and Men Summary This story is about Lennie Small and his friend, George Milton, both of them were forced to leave weed because Lennie was accused of raping a girl. This book was set in Salinas Valley, California. The book begins with the two of them hiding from the mad townspeople. Lennie had a tendency to grab things and not let go, yet he was unaware of his own strength. This problem got them into trouble a lot. Chapter One: Lennie and George are hiding. They were forced to leave Weed because Lennie was accused of rape. They went from ranch to ranch. They sit and talk and disgust their plans are for the next day, then they go to a ranch and George does all the talking. Chapter Two: Lennie and George arrived at the ranch were his new home is. He asks them for both of their names, and where they worked before and what skills they have. George answers every question for Lennie that makes the boss curious. He asks George why he always answers the questions for Lennie, thinking that is trying to get Lennie’s pay. Then he tells him that Lennie is a little slow. After he left, Candy came in and so did Curley. Once he left, George and Candy talked about him. Candy said that Curley hates men who are bigger than him. Candy also said that Curley's wife is a flirt. Soon after, Curley's wife entered looking for her husband. After flirting with George and Lennie, she leaves. Chapter Three: Slim's dog just had puppies and Lennie asked if he could have one. Slim said yes. George told Slim about the incident in Weed. He also told him that Lennie had a problem where he has to touch pretty things, so he grabbed a girl’s dress. The girl started to scream. So he held on tighter because he was confused. The girl accused Lennie of rape and they had to leave town. Carlson tried to convince Candy to shoot his dog because it was so old and in constant pain. Candy finally said yes after arguing and then he shot the dog, and buried it. Several minutes later Curley came into the bunkhouse looking for his wife. He was told that no one had seen her around and was about to leave but he noticed that Slim was not there, either.

Why were the Bolsheviks able to take power in October 1917

There are many factors that allowed to Bolsheviks to take power in October 1917 such as the growing unpopularity of the Provisional Government at the time. Moreover, events such as the July days and the return of Lenin and Trotsky. The Bolshevik slogans â€Å"Bread, Land and Peace† and â€Å"All Power to the Soviets† also sum up the other major factors to their rise. The Provisional Government was becoming increasingly unpopular.They had failed to end the war and were blamed for food shortages and rising prices. Also, the Russian people were unable to choose their own government as the Provisional Government had not held elections which had displeased most people of Russia. The Bolsheviks took advantage of the unpopularity of the Provisional Government and increased its support. Its slogan â€Å"Bread, Land and Peace† was a really attractive offer to the Russian people. The â€Å"Bread† issue was not being solved by the government, but the Bolsheviks promi sed that they would deal with it.Lenin promised to provide the people with sufficient food, and the starving population turned to him for help. Furthermore, most peasants were furious with the government and the landowners for not giving the peasants a chance to earn their own money with their own land. Lenin, in accordance with the communist ideology, promised that the landowners' property would be split up and distributed equally, naturally attracting mass support from the majority of the population. In addition, the slogan ‘Peace' was the most ppealed out of the 3 by the Russian people.Almost everybody wanted the war to stop, as it continued for so long. The devastated economy and dwindling food supplies were all caused by the war, and people wished to return to their old lives. Lenin knew this and aptly used this as a slogan for his campaign. Being the only party which constantly opposed the continuation of the war, the Bolsheviks attracted many supporters. Additionally, t he leadership of Lenin was another factor that allowed the Bolsheviks to take power. Lenin was a dedicated, determined and skilled leader.He motivated his party and, through agitation and propaganda, the Bolsheviks became very popular in the army and in the factories. The leadership of the party was loyal to Lenin, and they followed his orders with conviction. The party had a proficient propaganda machine, producing newspapers, banners, posters and setting up recruitment drives in the army and factories. Lenin promised to bring an end to the war, to give land to peasants, to give workers control of factories, to take control of he banks and to give power to soviets of workers and soldiers set up throughout Russia.During the July Days, a political crisis erupted as soldiers in Petrograd refused to go to the front and sailors Joined the workers in anti-government demonstrations. These people were mostly Bolshevik supporters, and these riots were no doubt sparked off by party instigato rs. However, they were delivered a crushing defeat when the government managed to suppress the demonstrations and arrested a few leading Bolsheviks. Lenin himself was shot twice in the chest from close range, but urvived to escape to Finland.However, this event emphasises that the Bolsheviks Bolsheviks were able to take power in October 1917 because of Lenin's outstanding speaking skills and use of propaganda. Equally because of the state Russia was in during 1917 with shortage of food, and the need to end the war. The Bolsheviks were the only party that opposed the continuation of the war – which the majority of the Russian population wanted – promising to give the people of Russia what they urgently needed at the time, â€Å"Bread, Land and Peace†.

A Rose For Emily By William Faulkner - 958 Words

â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a tragic story written by William Faulkner. It opens up describing a funeral arrangement made for Miss Emily Grierson. Nobody had been to Miss Emily’s house in ten years besides her servant. The story then jumps to thirty years earlier, in which we find out the mystery behind what happened with Miss troubled Emily Grierson and her relationship with a man named Homer. Faulkner’s use of suspense in this story keeps the readers on their edge. `In the beginning of the story, there is suspense shown when Faulkner states no one has seen Miss Emily before her funeral in ten years besides her gardener and cook. This leaves room for questions. Why hasn’t no one seen miss Emily in so long, besides her old man servant? How did†¦show more content†¦She replied with faded ink and thin paper, thus, signifying to us that she no longer goes out. The Board of aldermen got fed up and sent someone to collect. When they arrived at the house â€Å"It smelled of dust and disuse a close, dank smell. The Negro led them into the parlor. It was furnished in heavy, leather-covered furniture† (144). Miss Emily stated that she has no taxes in Jefferson to see Colonel Sartoris but Col Sartoris had been dead for ten years. Miss Emily was lost in the past and by the look of it her body indicated â€Å"She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the visitors stated their errand† (145). The story then jumps back to state two years after Emily’s father died, she met a gentleman names Homer which became her â€Å"sweetheart†. People from the town gossiped stating â€Å"the one we believed would marry her --had deserted her. After her father s death, she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all.† After the ladies didn’t see Homer exit or enter the home the neighbors stated smelling a odor from the home and reported it. After a while they finalize went over to her estate â€Å"As they recrossed the lawn, a window that had been dark was lighted and Miss EmilyShow MoreRelatedA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner923 Words   |  4 PagesA Rose for Emily; A Tale of The Old South William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi in 1897 but lived most of his life in Oxford, a small town nearby. After dropping out of high school then briefly joining the Canadian Air Force, he returned home and completed three terms at the University of Mississippi (Fulton 27). During his early twenties Faulkner spent time in New Orleans and Europe before returning to Oxford and publishing his first book of poems. 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When the reader reaches the end of the story the actions that Emily has taken is unexpected because of the way she is perceived by the narrator. In the beginning of the story, when the wholeRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1577 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"A Sarah Markins Dr. Bibby ENG 107 February 11, 2015 â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, written by William Faulkner in 1931, follows a series of peculiar events in Miss Emily Griersons life. Written in third person limited, Faulkner utilizes flashbacks to tell of the period between the death of Emily’s father and her own passing. Split into five short sections, the story starts out with the townspeople of Jefferson remembering Emily’s legacy and how each new generation ofRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1552 Words   |  7 PagesRyan Dunn Mrs. Williams English 11 March 11, 2016 In the short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner, the reader is given a glimpse of the internal conflict of the main character, living in the past, and the involvement of an over involved society causing the reader to look into the consciousness of an individual haunted by a past and lack of a future. The story is set in a post-Civil War town in the South. He is able to give the reader a glimpse of the practices and attitudes that had unitedRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1507 Words   |  7 Pages1897, William Cuthbert Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi. He stands as one of the most preeminent American writers of the twentieth century. 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