Loading…
Going underground: fatigue and sleepiness in tunnelling operations
This research represents one of the first qualitative studies to investigate fatigue in the tunnelling sector of the construction industry. It explores the opinions of tunnellers and their managers about how fatigue influences or is influenced by tunnelling, and how this is managed. Fatigue and slee...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Default Article |
| Published: |
2020
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/12764189.v1 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1818167377232134144 |
|---|---|
| author | Sally Maynard Wendy Jones Ashleigh Filtness Alistair Gibb Roger Haslam |
| author_facet | Sally Maynard Wendy Jones Ashleigh Filtness Alistair Gibb Roger Haslam |
| author_sort | Sally Maynard (1255176) |
| collection | Figshare |
| description | This research represents one of the first qualitative studies to investigate fatigue in the tunnelling sector of the construction industry. It explores the opinions of tunnellers and their managers about how fatigue influences or is influenced by tunnelling, and how this is managed. Fatigue and sleepiness were discussed in six focus groups with frontline workers (n=42) and 10 manager interviews. Fatigue was seen to be a problem, with all participants having experienced, or recognised in others, the feeling of sleepiness whilst at work. Fatigue and sleepiness are not commonly discussed between tunnelling workers and they do not feel comfortable reporting instances of fatigue. The research shows that workers in the tunnelling construction sector are exposed to a wide range of occupational factors that potentially increase their vulnerability to fatigue, including the physical environment, repetitive and monotonous tasks, variable shift patterns and manual work. Additionally, personal factors such as social and family demands, long commute times and living away from home, can increase the risk of fatigue. The construction industry in general has gone some way to address fatigue and there is opportunity to further improve fatigue management. However, a major shift is needed before workers will feel able to openly discuss fatigue with their employer. |
| format | Default Article |
| id | rr-article-12764189 |
| institution | Loughborough University |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| record_format | Figshare |
| spelling | rr-article-127641892020-08-17T00:00:00Z Going underground: fatigue and sleepiness in tunnelling operations Sally Maynard (1255176) Wendy Jones (1247526) Ashleigh Filtness (1384968) Alistair Gibb (1252914) Roger Haslam (1258251) Fatigue Shift work Construction industry Safety Sleep Sleepiness This research represents one of the first qualitative studies to investigate fatigue in the tunnelling sector of the construction industry. It explores the opinions of tunnellers and their managers about how fatigue influences or is influenced by tunnelling, and how this is managed. Fatigue and sleepiness were discussed in six focus groups with frontline workers (n=42) and 10 manager interviews. Fatigue was seen to be a problem, with all participants having experienced, or recognised in others, the feeling of sleepiness whilst at work. Fatigue and sleepiness are not commonly discussed between tunnelling workers and they do not feel comfortable reporting instances of fatigue. The research shows that workers in the tunnelling construction sector are exposed to a wide range of occupational factors that potentially increase their vulnerability to fatigue, including the physical environment, repetitive and monotonous tasks, variable shift patterns and manual work. Additionally, personal factors such as social and family demands, long commute times and living away from home, can increase the risk of fatigue. The construction industry in general has gone some way to address fatigue and there is opportunity to further improve fatigue management. However, a major shift is needed before workers will feel able to openly discuss fatigue with their employer. 2020-08-17T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/12764189.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Going_underground_fatigue_and_sleepiness_in_tunnelling_operations/12764189 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
| spellingShingle | Fatigue Shift work Construction industry Safety Sleep Sleepiness Sally Maynard Wendy Jones Ashleigh Filtness Alistair Gibb Roger Haslam Going underground: fatigue and sleepiness in tunnelling operations |
| title | Going underground: fatigue and sleepiness in tunnelling operations |
| title_full | Going underground: fatigue and sleepiness in tunnelling operations |
| title_fullStr | Going underground: fatigue and sleepiness in tunnelling operations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Going underground: fatigue and sleepiness in tunnelling operations |
| title_short | Going underground: fatigue and sleepiness in tunnelling operations |
| title_sort | going underground: fatigue and sleepiness in tunnelling operations |
| topic | Fatigue Shift work Construction industry Safety Sleep Sleepiness |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/12764189.v1 |