A risk you don't want to take

摘要

Fatigue in the workplace is increasingly becoming a major issue in the oil and gas industry-especially in the booming shale plays. Fatigue is a mental exhaustion that stops a person from being able to function normally. High levels of fatigue can cause reduced performance and productivity, and increases the risk of accidents and injuries. Fatigue affects the ability to think clearly. Fatigued personnel are unable to gauge their own level of impairment, and are unaware that they are not functioning as safely as they would be if they were not fatigued. Studies have shown that staying awake for 17 hours has the same effect on performance as having a blood alcohol content of .05 percent. And staying awake for 21 hours is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of. 1 percent. Other studies have shown an incident rate of 7 incidents per 100 man-hours for those averaging less than 5 hours of sleep a night compared to 4 incidents per 100 man-hours for those with 10 hours of sleep per night.