Fatigue Risk Management

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Fatigue's Effects on Retail Employees

**What is fatigue? **

Fatigue is physical or mental exhaustion caused by several factors such as: Overwork Stress Medication Extreme heat Underlying physical or mental illness

Fatigue reduces an employee's ability to work by: Increasing the time it takes to complete a task Impairing their concentration.

How does fatigue reduce one's ability to work?

Fatigue in our industry In the retail industry, there are two most common things that causes fatigue, these are: Irregular shifts that are longer than eight hours Work hours that limits one from getting enough sleep in between shifts Here's an example: You were asked to do a late night shift today and then an early morning shift the following day. That scenario limits your chance to get enough sleep so, you're most likely to experience fatigue.

Safety Risks of Fatigue in the Workplace

Now that you know what fatigue is, it's time to learn its safety risks in the workplace.

You might ask, "But wait, is fatigue really a workplace issue?"

Definitely. Fatigue causes safety risks in the workplace.

What makes fatigue a safety risk? As you know, fatigue is an individual's mental or physical exhaustion, caused by several factors. Some of its known effects are reduced physical ability and impaired concentration. Aside from those, fatigue also increases an employee's hazard exposure by: Reduced mental functioning, Impaired judgment, Slowed reaction time, and Increased risk-taking behavior.

While those events are far from happening to us in the retail industry, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't worry about it!

One way or another, fatigue poses health and safety risks - Aside from accidents, studies have shown that it's also linked to other serious health problems.

Aside from Musculoskeletal disorders and reproductive problems, what are the 2 other maladies that you may develop from fatigue?

What causes fatigue at work?

From the previous lessons in this course, you probably got a general idea already that fatigue is caused by long and irregular working hours.

Although that's correct, there are also other factors in the workplace that may cause an employee to suffer from fatigue!

In this lesson, we'll cover the different factors that may cause an employee to suffer from fatigue.

The 3 main types of factors that may cause fatigue are: Natural causes (disorders) Substance-related factors Work-related factors

Other than insomnia, what are the 2 other disorders that may cause an employee to suffer from fatigue?

Strategies to Avoid Fatigue

Now that you're more familiar with the negative effects of fatigue, you're probably curious about how it can be avoided, right? Swipe up to find out the only way to fight fatigue!

Sleep. That's it - fatigue isn't really a disease that you can fight through therapy or medication. To simply put it, fatigue is the body’s signal that it needs a rest period or sleep.

In our industry, retail employees must be more aware of what to do to get satisfying sleep and when to do it!

How can we protect our sleep?

**Fatigue Risk Management ** Test your knowledge about fatigue and how to fight it by taking this review quiz!

How does fatigue reduce one's ability to work?

Aside from Musculoskeletal disorders and reproductive problems, what are the 2 other illnesses that you may develop from fatigue?

How can we protect our sleep?