The Effects of Fatigue on Performance in Transportation Operations

Fatigue is associated with wide-ranging effects on operator performance in the transportation sector. Internationally, fatigue has been implicated in between 10% and 20% of all road crashes, and has been identified as a significant source of risk in other transport industries. A range of factors has been shown to give rise to fatigue in transport operations, including insufficient sleep, extended wakefulness, circadian disruption, time on task and workload, as well as sleep disorders. From basic physiological changes in central nervous system activity stem a considerable array of impacts on neurobehavioural performance, higher-order cognitive functioning, and shifts in psychosocial performance that both individually and in combination pose a threat to safe and efficient performance.