Stephen M. Popkin

Fatigue risk management: Organizational factors at the regulatory and industry/company level

This paper focuses on the development of fatigue risk management systems (FRMS) in the transport sector. The evolution of regulatory frameworks is traced, from uni-dimensional hours of service regulations through to frameworks that enable multi-dimensional FRMS. These regulatory changes reflect advances in understanding of human error in the aetiology of accidents, and in fatigue and safety science. Implementation of FRMS shifts the locus of responsibility for safety away from the regulator towards companies and individuals, and requires changes in traditional roles. Organizational, ethnic, and national culture need to be considered. Recent trends in the work environment have potential to adversely affect FRMS, including precarious employment and shortages of skilled labour. Essential components of an FRMS, and examples of FRMS in different transport modes, are described. It is vital that regulators, employer, and employees have an understanding of the causes and consequences of fatigue that is sufficient for them to meet their responsibilities in relation to FRMS. While there is a strong evidence base supporting the principles of FRMS, experience with implementation is more limited. The evidence base for effective implementation will expand, since FRMS is data-driven, and ongoing evaluation is integral. We strongly advocate that experience be shared wherever possible.

Future directions in fatigue and safety research

Fatigue is regarded as a major contributor to workplace and highway morbidity and mortality. While the scientific literature is replete with studies that can be traced back more than a hundred years, much remains to be done to improve our knowledge of and ability to alleviate the consequences of fatigue. Moreover, given the dramatic transformation of modern work systems due to a global and 24/7 economy, there is increasing urgency in improving our understanding of fatigue as a safety risk factor, its etiology and management. As a result, a Hopkinton Conference was organized to review the state of knowledge in the area and define future directions for research aimed at preventing or mitigating the consequences of fatigue. The Hopkinton Conference paradigm brings together leading experts on a key research area to define scientific gaps and research needs, and serves as a stimulus for further collaboration. Over the course of several months prior to the conference, participants draft state-of-the-art reviews covering various aspects of the research topic. In this case, five working groups were formed, each charged with developing collaborative manuscripts in a given topic area of interest, as follows: the Link Between Fatigue and Safety, Demographic Issues in Fatigue, Predicting Fatigue, Technological Approaches in the Management of Fatigue, and Organizational Factors in the Management of Fatigue. The participants then convened for a 2 day conference at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety in Hopkinton to review, debate, and revise the draft manuscripts; examine global issues; and discuss research priorities. The output from this collective effort is captured in this special issue of Accident Analysis and Prevention.

Age is more than just a number: Implications for an aging workforce in the US transportation sector

The US workforce is aging. At the same time, there are a record number of open positions in the transportation sector, which has traditionally been a well-paying, but stressful and schedule-dependent, occupation. Due to increasing longevity, need, and ability to work, a possible solution to the transportation workforce shortfall may lie within the retention and recruitment of older workers. This paper uses a socio-technical framework to examine the pertinent, though scant, literature and data related to older workforce demographics and operational needs, the regulatory environment, requisite knowledge, skills and abilities, and application of support technology and training. Although there is evidence of age-related changes in physiology and cognition, the current science remains unable to resolve how an older workforce may most appropriately be applied to transportation to maximize system safety and minimize negative impact to worker well-being.

Research needs and opportunities for reducing the adverse safety consequences of fatigue

Although there has been a significant amount of research on fatigue globally, it remains a major contributor to workplace and highway mortality and morbidity. Given its importance, a Hopkinton Conference was organized to review and discuss the state of knowledge in the area and to define future directions for research aimed at preventing or mitigating the consequences of fatigue. In all, five groups of international contributors produced six articles for this special issue, comprising state of the art reviews, along with a discussion of knowledge gaps and future research needs. In this concluding paper, we capture some of the major outcomes and recommendations from this process. These are organized into five topic areas: the link between fatigue and safety, demographic issues in fatigue, modeling and predicting fatigue, technological approaches to fatigue management, and organizational factors in fatigue management.

Analyzing irregular working hours: lessons learned in the development of RAS 1.0--The Representation and Analysis Software.

Actual working hours of employees vary widely, especially in the transportation industry. We developed a tool, the RAS (Representation and Analysis Software), to ease the assessment of such irregular hours and the transfer of existing knowledge of proper schedule design to the problem of irregular hours. This article discusses several critical design questions that were addressed during software development in order for it to assess irregular work patterns, including the (1) importance, in spite of a lack of established definitions, of basic concepts like, e.g., night shift, (2) difficulty of modeling and adapting existing knowledge on proper design, and (3) large number of analytical methods and additional data beyond company schedule that are necessary to meet the needs of various research groups. This article describes how the RAS addresses these three issues by illustrating its application to the work schedule of a train driver involved in the Hinton train disaster.

Effect of day length on sleep habits and subjective on-duty alertness in irregular work schedules

The human circadian system is sensitive to environmental conditions, such as those created by shift work, that affect the timing and duration of sleep. Previous research on the effects of shift work, however, has focused primarily on regularly scheduled shifts. Few studies have focused on irregular and unpredictable on-call shift systems, such as those found in much of railroad operations. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of irregular shift systems experienced by locomotive engineers on the length of sleep-wake periods and the effect of different length sleep-wake periods on self-reported sleep quantity, sleep quality, and on-duty alertness. A total of 179 locomotive engineers provided information on work times, sleep habits, and on-duty alertness as part of a 14-day activity log. Sleep-wake periods were first divided into three categories: short (<22 h), normal (22 to 26 h, inclusive), and long (>26 h). A one-way analysis of variance for multiple variables was completed on sleep quantity, sleep quality, and on-duty alertness by using the three sleep-wake period categories as the factor. The results indicated that normal-length periods occurred in less than half of the sleep-wake periods. The remaining sleep-wake periods were divided approximately equally between short and long periods. In addition, short sleep-wake periods resulted in less sleep and generally poorer sleep than normal length sleep-wake periods. Long sleep-wake periods resulted in more sleep but poorer sleep and lower levels of on-duty alertness than normal sleep-wake periods. Furthermore, on-duty alertness followed a circadian rhythm with the most well defined rhythm seen in normal length sleep-wake periods and less pronounced rhythms seen in short and long sleep-wake periods. The current data indicated that the range of sleep-wake periods caused by irregular working conditions negatively impacted sleep habits and on-duty alertness in locomotive engineers.

Transportation Research into Practice: A Multi-Agency Government Perspective

Safety is the top priority of the US Department of Transportation (DOT), with much of its

United States Department of Transportation (DOT) Human Factors Coordinating Committee (HFCC) Research Needs

1B of annual research and development budget focused on this priority. Each organization within DOT, and its oversight origination, the National Transportation Safety Board, have research programs that independently and jointly aim to impact and address these current and emerging safety issues, many of which are rooted in human factors causes. This panel will provide insight into understanding these issues, and how research was designed to deliver fieldable results that produced tangible safety benefits.

An Evaluation of Emerging Driver Fatigue Detection Measures and Technologies

The purpose of this discussion panel is to present the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) human factors research needs to the larger human factors research community. The DOT Human Factors Coordinating Committee (HFCC) serves as a multi-modal team with government-wide liaisons to promote human factors and to address crosscutting human factors issues in transportation. HFCC regularly conducts a survey of the DOT modal agencies and other federal agencies with a transportation focus (e.g., the National Transportation Safety Board) to identify cross-cutting DOT research needs. In this panel, the results of a recent survey will be presented with a discussion of how each modal agency is addressing these human factors areas of interest. Additionally, HFCC representatives from five modal agencies will review their current research efforts, discuss their anticipated future research needs, and address questions from the audience.