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CIRCADIAN FRMS Questionnaire

This questionnaire probes the levels of defense against fatigue that are present in your organization.

FRMS Levels of Defense

General Information


What is the name of your facility/plant?



Potential Fatigue Exposure


What is the total number of employees in your facility/worksite/business operation?


How many of these employees work in positions where errors of inattention could result in incidents, injuries or equipment damage?


What percentage of total employee work is done between 12 midnight and 6 AM?



FRMS DEFENSES



Staff - Workload Balance

Average total annual hours per employee (regular plus overtime) at your facility/worksite?


Highest annual hours (regular plus overtime) of the employee with the most overtime.


Is your facility understaffed in relation to current workload demands?


Does workload vary across shifts, weeks and/or months?


How well balanced is the number of employees on duty with the workload?




Shift/Duty Scheduling

What is the longest period continuously on duty that is permitted?


What is the shortest permitted off-duty time between consecutive shifts/duty periods?


What is the largest number of consecutive days of work that is permitted before a day-off must be taken?


What is the shortest off-duty period between two blocks of consecutive shifts/duty days that is permitted?


What is the maximum number of work hours per week that is permitted?


How much do an employee's work hours change from day to day?


How was the current shift/duty schedule developed?


Have you conducted a fatigue risk analysis using a fatigue model of your schedules?




Education and Training

Have your employees received a fatigue training program on sleep, circadian rhythms and reducing fatigue risk on the job?


Have your employees been educated on the symptoms of sleep disorders and how to obtain appropriate medical advice/treatment?


Do you provide employees with educational materials/newletters/pamphlets on fatigue and sleep management?


Do you educate/communicatewith employees' family members how to help keep your employees alert, safe and healthy?


Do you train front-line supervisors on how to recognize and mitigate fatigue risk in the employees they manage?


Are your senior Ops, HR, safety, health managers educated on Fatigue Risk Management Systems and your policies for fatigue mitigation?




Job Design & Work Environment

Does heavy physical activity trigger more rest breaks than lighter activities?


Are sedentary workers provided with breaks to prevent automatic behaviors (performing tasks without adequate conscious attention)?


Are work spaces brightly lit using indirect lighting to avoid glare and eye strain?


Is the indoor temperature at night controlled at the lower end of the comfortable range?


Is humidity controlled within a comfortable range?


Do you have special procedures and precautions for employees working in harsh environments (extreme heat, cold, high altitude)


Are work stations designed ergonomically to prevent musculoskeletal fatigue & repetitive strain?




Individual Employee Risk Mitigation

Do employees report when they are too fatigued to work safely to their supervisor?


Do employees report when co-workers are unsafely fatigued to the supervisor?


Does your company promote a culture of fatigue management where workers are comfortable disclosing their personal sleep or fatigue status (consistent with protections when reporting other safety concerns)?


Does your company have a napping policy?


Are supervisors given the responsibility and authority to take actions (e.g. relieving them temporarily from duty) to ensure employees are sufficiently alert to safely perform work?


Are employees with repeated bouts of excessive fatigue referred to health professionals for further evaluation and advice?




Incident / Near Miss Investigation

Do incident investigations consider fatigue as a potential root or contributing cause of the incident?


Do you systematically collect data on prior shifts, sleep history, overtime, time of day of human error, and length of time on duty?


Do you use a validated fatigue causation model for determining whether or not fatigue was a contributing factor?


Are aggregate incident analyses conducted to reveal patterns suggestive of fatigue??




Fatigue Policies & FRMS Improvement

Does your company have a written Fatigue Policy document?


Does your company have a written Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) document?


Is the FRMS integrated into your corporate operations management and safety management systems?


Is the FRMS subject to periodic assessments of its effectiveness and opportunities for continuous improvement?


Are targets set for key parameters of the FRMS (e.g. percentage overtime, number of open shifts, number of extended shifts, etc.)?


Are metrics in place to determine if targets are being met?


Are plans developed to close gaps between targets and actual performance?


Are key outcomes that may be impacted by fatigue (e.g. absenteeism, healthcare costs, safety and hazard lost data, etc.) monitored?



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