| Owner | Health and Safety |
| Last Reviewed | June 2020 |
| Version | 1 |
Fatigue Management Guidelines
Definitions
| SOP | Standard Operating Procedure |
| Shall or Will | Mandatory or must do |
| Recommended | Not mandatory however, should do |
| Employee Assistance Program (EAP) | A confidential counselling service paid for by Oz Security Australia which is available to support employees and their eligible family members on a range of issues such as alcohol related problems, emotional stress and relationship difficulties. |
| Extended hours | Hours of work that are an extension of the standard working week and includes overtime, on-call arrangements and secondary employment. |
| Fatigue | Fatigue is more than feeling tired and/or drowsy; it is mental or physical exhaustion that prevents a person from functioning normally. In the work environment it may result in a person being unable to function safely. |
| Restorative sleep | Cycles of deep sleep, the process by which the body is able to overcome the effects of fatigue. |
| Sleep cycles | Known as the ‘body clock’ which also regulates the body’s temperature, digestion and hormone levels? |
| Work shifts | The ordinary hour worked between the start and finish of a shift and excludes any overtime whether pre-planned or spontaneous. |
| Work rosters | The working period scheduled between any significant break away from work. |
| Workers | Employee, contractor, sub-contractor, labour hire personnel, work experience and volunteer. |
| Secondary employment | Having a second job or volunteering for a charity or community group. |
| Time in Lieu | Time-in-lieu shall be a prior negotiation between salary workers and their manager for time off due to additional hours worked. Workers that receive overtime pay do not accrue time-in-lieu hours. |
Legal Compliance & References
| Legislation / Recognized Standards | Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011 Workplace Health and Safety Regulations 2011 |
| Australian / International Standards | |
| Risk Assessment | |
| Other References |
Purpose
This Fatigue management guidelines document has been developed to explain the risk management process and provide clear guidance to management and workers on how to effectively manage the risk of fatigue for all Oz Security Australia colleagues. This includes managing the risks of fatigue for senior management, middle management and front line staff equally.
Oz Security Australia recognises that fatigue affects a person’s health, safety and wellbeing, increases the chance of illness and workplace injuries occurring, and reduces performance and productivity within the workplace. Therefore, Oz Security Australia is committed to providing a safe, healthy and productive workplace for all Workers. Oz Security Australia and its employees, contractors, sub-contractors and visitors, therefore have a shared responsibility to minimize the effects that fatigue can have on individuals at work.
To achieve this goal, Oz Security Australia is committed to:
- Managing fatigue using a risk management approach;
- Consulting with workers before hours of work or shifts are changed;
- Rotating on-call shifts so that workers have an adequate work – life balance;
- Requiring all staff to limit the amount of accrued annual leave;
- Ensuring those working extended hours or on shifts have appropriate breaks between shifts;
- Educating management and workers to identify, measure, and monitor their fatigue level; and
- Agreeing to realistic contractual agreements with clients.
In addition, Oz Security Australia asks our workers to take responsibility and comply with the following guidelines:
- Workers will make every effort to have adequate sleep or rest between shifts;
- That outside of work, activities do not cause fatigue or impaired performance with working; and
- Report to their Supervisor or Manager if they think are suffering from fatigue.
Scope
This procedure applies to all personal employed or contracted by OZ Security.
Procedural Requirements
Security officer self-check
Ask yourself. Am I fit to work?
| I | Illness | Do I have an illness that I need to take into consideration, or any symptoms of an illness? |
| M | Medication | Have I been taking prescription or over the counter medication ? |
| S | Stress | Am I under psychological pressure at home or at work. Worried about financial matters, health problems, or family? |
| A | Alcohol | Have I been drinking in the last 12 hours prior to this shift or call out? |
| F | Fatigue | Am I tired or not adequately rested? |
| E | Eating | Have I eaten enough of the right foods to keep me nourished during my entire shift? When was my last meal? |
If you are not sure about any of the above discuss it with your supervisor or manager before it becomes a problem or involved in an incident.
Factors that may cause a person to be at risk of fatigue:
| WORK RELATED FACTORS | OUTSIDE WORK FACTORS |
| Poor roster patterns | Poor quality of sleep |
| Long shifts | Sleep loss |
| Poor work scheduling and planning | Social life |
| Length of time worked | Family needs |
| Timing of shifts (eg night shift) proportionally increases the impact of fatigue | Other employment |
| Insufficient recovery time between sheets | Travel time |
| Long periods of time awake for whatever reason | Sleep disorders |
| Harsh or unusual environmental conditions (Heat/Cold) | Drug and or Alcohol dependency |
| Type of work being undertaken (eg under or over demand) | Gaming |
| Mental or physically demanding work | Poor diet |
| Inadequate rest breaks | |
| Poor diet |
Impacts of fatigue
The effects of fatigue on health and work performance can be short term and long term
| SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON AN INDIVIDUAL INCLUDE IMPAIRED WORK PERFORMANCE, SUCH AS THE REDUCED ABILITY TO: | LONG-TERM EFFECTS ON HEALTH THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH FATIGUE: |
| Concentrate and avoid distraction | Heart disease |
| Think laterally and analytically | Diabetes |
| Make decisions | High blood pressure |
| Remember and recall events and their sequences | Gastrointestinal disorders |
| Maintain vigilance | Depression |
| Controlling emotions | Anxiety |
| Appreciate complex situations | |
| Recognise risks | |
| Coordinate hand-eye movements | |
| Communicate effectively |
| FATIGUE CAN ALSO: |
| Increase error rates |
| Slow reaction times |
| Increase the likelihood |
RISK MANAGEMENT
These guidelines apply to the allocation of future shifts by Oz personnel. The risk management cannot be applied in scenarios where other stakeholders have taken actions outside of these guidelines without the consent of Oz personnel. The scenarios where action is taken without the approval of Oz personnel will be managed through the normal performance management and feedback channels relevant to the stakeholder concerned.
The guidelines set out in this document are to be adhered to where possible. Due to the nature of the manpower supply industry, it may not always be possible to remain within these guidelines.
When a requirement to operate outside of these guidelines is identified, further risk management must be undertaken to ensure that the risk posed to the individual and others in the workplace is reduced to as low as reasonably practicable.
The risk management guidelines are independent of each other. If any workplace activity is outside of one of the guidelines while still being within the remaining guidelines action must be taken as per below.
The identification and assessment of risk is to be undertaken to ensure that it can be adequately managed.
The following guidelines will assist in identifying fatigue risk in the workplace and providing guidance on how to assess and manage that risk.
GUIDELINES
Oz Security comprises a complex set of operations with varying rosters and conditions of work. Fatigue-related risks varies across roles, tasks and conditions of work. While this procedure sets out general standard hours of work, the complexities of the Oz Security operation and the requirements of responding to exceptional circumstances within the operations indicate a need to define a process that must be used where conditions vary from the general standard.
Generally, work at Oz Security shall take place within the following constraints:
Maximum hours of work
- Maximum hours of work in a scheduled shift is – 12 hours – plus additional hand over period of maximum 30 minutes. Hand over should be done 10 minutes prior to the shift starting, so the person on shift can get away on time.
- Maximum number of hours in any 24 hour period is – 14 hours.
- Exceptional Circumstances – Maximum hours of work maybe exceeded in an emergency situation, however shall require approval from Oz Security manager and completion of form “Request to work extra hours”
- Oz Security officers shall utilise rest facilities if provided or available to enable rest before return travel commences if maximum hours of work are exceeded.
Number of lengths of rest breaks in a shift
Oz Security sets standards for minimum breaks within and between shifts as outlined below. However, additional breaks may be arranged as appropriate or considered necessary to manage fatigue (see table below)
| Shift length (Hours) | Minimum total break time | Minimum number of breaks | Recommended timing of breaks |
| 12-14hrs | 90 | 3 | 3.5 – 5 hours after commencement of shift (then no more than 5 hours after) |
| 11-12hrs | 60 | 2 | 3.5 – 5 hours after commencement of shift (then no more than 5 hours after) |
| 8-11hrs | 30 | 1 | 4 – 5 hours after commencement of shift |
Flexibility of break times may be arranged by the employee and supervisor to allow self-management of personal fatigue.
Security officers shall log break times on duty sheet or job sheet
Breaks between shifts
The minimum break between consecutive shifts, or before return to work after exceptional circumstances shall be 10 hours exclusive of travel.
- Maximum number of hours to be worked in a week or roster cycle and maximum consecutive shifts.
*Maximum shift lengths can only be varied with approval from Oz Security Servicers manager once the individual officers have completed the extra work request form.
Normal scheduled shifts should not exceed the maximum for the clients site to allow coverage during an emergency.
**For short term projects or guarding jobs of > 4 weeks duration, shift structure and shift lengths to be approved by an Oz Security manager.
Shift start time
- To ensure the opportunity for adequate night rest, shifts shall not be scheduled to start between midnight 0000hrs and 0500hrs
Roster design
- Oz Security values roster arrangements that minimize the number of transitions between day and night shifts and maximizes regularity of work and rest periods. The normal roster arrangements give preference for 4 on 4 off continuous roster design. Alternative roster designs must be consistent with the philosophy of roster design adopted by and approved by an Oz Security manager.