Faid ŽSafe is a fatigue safety system that is built on three levels of protection and designed so that all industrial organisations can establish adequacy of current and future controls that protect against inherent fatigue hazards.
FaidŽSafe is based on a holistic diagnosis of operational, capacity and cultural exposures, coupled with the development of primary, secondary and tertiary safeguards.
FaidŽSafe is offered as the global benchmark for services assisting the fatigue safe systems market and recognises that irespective of the support tools that are adopted, a comprehensive Risk Engineering based fatigue safe system is required in order to adequately manage fatigue risks.
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| Client Testimonial - Ottawa Hydro Ltd. Analyzes Rotational Shifts |
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Hydro Ottawa Limited is the electricity distribution company serving the City of Ottawa, Canada's leading high technology hub and the nation's capital. As Ontario's third-largest local distribution company (LDC), Hydro Ottawa Limited has two core responsibilities. First, they ensure a safe, reliable delivery of electricity to 265,000 customers in the City of Ottawa and the village of Casselman. Second, Hydro Ottawa Limited bills for its services and for the services provided by other organizations in Ontario's electricity system.
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"In August/September of 2002 (and again in 2004) we had the pleasure of working with the partnership of Intelstep Inc. (now Bragelo Group Inc) of Ottawa and InterDynamics of Australia regarding the analysis of our rotational shifts. We chose this partnership from a number of proposals based on the on-hand expertise Intelstep could provide to the project and the obvious specialized expertise that InterDynamics provided. Throughout the project, the attention to detail and quality by Geoff Brazeau (of Bragelo Group) and Len Pearson (of InterDynamics) was very thorough and professional. We were more than satisfied with the approach taken and the project deliverables - all met or exceeded expectations."
"The final report was very complete and all recommendations explained in detail. The report remains to be a useful resource for reference. I would recommend their services to any company needing an in-depth and scientific evaluation of rotational shifts and the associated fatigue and the training to support all of the above."
Steve Clouthier
Manager, Safety and Training
Hydro Ottawa
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Developments In Fatigue Safe Systems
Fatigue and its impact on decision making is a global issue that has emerged with the extended hours of work required to service our 24/7 society. Work-related fatigue and consequent changes in alertness, reaction time, decision making and communication are all major risks for shift workers.
According to the The Centre for Sleep Research, the University of South Australia, the major cause of the increased levels of fatigue in the workplace, which have been experienced over the last few decades, is the loss of sleep which has occurred with changing economic and social patterns. For example, many workers involved in the Transport Industry (road, rail, air, sea) are now required to work longer, more flexible hours at reduced staffing levels. This, in conjunction with increasing task demands and social pressures has resulted in significant reductions in the quality and duration of sleep.
In recent years, a number of industrial inquiries have given focus and impetus to the process of finding and implementing solutions to the risks posed by fatigue in transport and other operational business environments.
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Are organizations Fatigue Safe?
The spotlight on fatigue as a significant cause of accidents and incidents in a broad range of industries and activities is becoming more general and emotional. The list of industries affected by fatigue is endless road transport, aviation, ferries, passenger rail, sea borne cargo, mining, healthcare
to name but a few!
The clamor of society to fix the fatigue problem has led many organisations to become proactive about occupational fatigue. Awareness and training programs which assist workers to better understand and manage their personal levels of fatigue have been developed and are being delivered; consultative committees are being formed to oversee fatigue management programs; fatigue models are being used to objectively assess fatigue risk; fatigue safe rosters are being developed; fatigue risk management policies and procedures are being developed; organisation wide systems which monitor compliance of actual hours of work with organisational safety targets and the minimum requirements of occupational health and safety legislation are being implemented.
Even with all this activity underway, company boards, legislators, regulators and unions are still asking the question: Are our organisations fatigue safe? Are the actions we are taking sufficient to protect our people and our organisation against exposure to the significant losses which arise whenever there is an accident or incident which has fatigue as a contributing or root cause?
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Sleep factor is most significant
Over the last decade an extensive body of research has confirmed that of all the factors that contribute to fatigue the amount and quality of sleep that people achieve is the most significant factor. With this knowledge, one of the leading forms of protection has been to educate workers on how they can better manage their sleep and fatigue. However, even with greater awareness of how to manage personal fatigue, fatigue cannot be eliminated.
The challenge for organizations has been to protect themselves against fatigue risk at whatever level of fatigue experienced by individuals. For example, contingency plans are required for workers performing safety critical tasks if health or family pressures lead to high levels of personal fatigue.
Over the last decade an extensive body of research has confirmed that of all the factors that contribute to fatigue - the amount and quality of sleep that people achieve is the most significant factor.
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High Integrity Multiple Protection Levels
With the accumulation of experience gained from the endeavours of organisations to develop and implement diverse controls to protect themselves against fatigue risk, there is growing evidence that a commitment to one or two forms of protection in isolation does not lead to a "fatigue safe organisation". For high hazard industries such as transport, manufacturing, mining and healthcare it is becoming clear that three levels of protection (control) are required to give adequate protection, as described below:
Primary Protection achieved by developing fatigue safe work practises and schedules (rosters), workforce capacity settings, policies and procedures which significantly reduce personal and organisational fatigue risk.
Secondary Protection achieved by the development of competencies in managing fatigue risk at an operator and management level together with monitoring compliance with legislated and corporate fatigue safety standards.
Tertiary Protection achieved through competency based contingency and emergency plans to protect against unplanned situations where high levels of fatigue are experienced by individuals. FaidŽSafe Service is a risk engineering based framework used to establish adequacy of current and future controls to protect against inherent fatigue hazards and is based on a holistic diagnosis of operational, capacity and cultural exposures, coupled with the development of primary, secondary and tertiary safeguards.
FaidŽSafe Services
Installation of a fatigue safe system represents a "journey of discovery" for an organisation. FaidŽSafe Services has been developed on a modular basis to allow for the phasing-in of the service over a period of some 18-24 months while encapsulating the relevant levels of protection along the journey. Each phase of the journey involves the implementation of one or several modules and protection levels, depending on the organisations considered ability to absorb them into their framework. Based on the alliance partnership of InterDynamics and Bragelo Groups experience, this approach represents the most expedient pathway forward, allowing for "checks & balances" to be completed during the journey. The individual modules and relevant protection levels are as follows:
Primary Protection
Module One: FaidŽSafe - Diagnostic
Module Two: FaidŽSafe - Fatigue Hazard Analysis
Module Three: FaidŽSafe - Team Workshops
Module Four: FaidŽSafe - Systems Design
Module Five: FaidŽSafe - Policies and Procedures
Secondary Protection
Module Six: FaidŽSafe - Management Training & Education
Module Seven: FaidŽSafe - Workforce Training & Education
Module Eight: FaidŽSafe - Business Wide Compliance Monitoring
Tertiary Protection
Module Nine: FaidŽSafe - Contingency & Emergency Plans
Module Ten: FaidŽSafe - Contingencies, Incidents & Accidents Procedures
Module Eleven: FaidŽSafe - Fatigue Risk Grading
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