Plan details
Workgroups covered e.g. drivers, control room, on-call fault crews, ward staff
Plan owner
Rostering system, and who controls exceptions
Date approved and review date
Fatigue risk factors
Tick every factor present in the covered workgroups. Each ticked item must be addressed by a rule in the next section or a recorded exception.
- Shifts longer than 10 hours, or that regularly extend past rostered end
- Breaks between shifts shorter than 10 hours (quick returns)
- More than [number] consecutive night shifts
- Rosters that rotate backwards (nights, then afternoons, then mornings)
- On-call periods with a realistic prospect of overnight call-outs
- Call-outs that follow a full shift or precede one
- Long commutes on top of long shifts
- Seasonal or emergency peaks that extend hours for weeks at a time
- Second jobs or study loads known to affect rest
- Safety-critical tasks (driving, live work, medication, machinery) performed late in long shifts
Scheduling rules
Set real numbers. The rules bind rostering; exceptions are approved individually and counted.
| Rule | Standard | Exception requires |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum shift length | [e.g. 12 hours including overtime] | Approval by [role], recorded with reason |
| Minimum break between shifts | [e.g. 10 hours door to door] | Approval by [role]; no safety-critical tasks in the first 2 hours |
| Maximum consecutive night shifts | [e.g. 4] | Approval by [role], with extra rest days after |
| Rest after an overnight call-out | [e.g. next shift start delayed until a minimum break is complete] | Documented operational necessity |
| Maximum hours per fortnight | [rostered plus overtime cap] | Review by [role] before further overtime is offered |
Individual fatigue management
- Workers can report themselves or a colleague as fatigued without penalty, and everyone knows the phrase to use
- A fatigued worker is reassigned from safety-critical tasks first; standing down is a supported decision, not a punishment
- Supervisors are trained to spot fatigue signs: microsleeps, drifting attention, irritability, missed steps
- A short fitness-for-duty conversation happens before safety-critical work after a call-out
- Napping or rest facilities exist for overnight and on-call staff where practical
- Travel after long shifts is considered: rest before driving, or alternative transport
- Hours worked and sleep opportunity are standing fields on incident and near-miss reports
- Workers with ongoing fatigue factors (new parents, second jobs, health conditions) can request roster adjustments confidentially
Monitoring and review
Rostering data is reviewed each [period] against the rules above: count breaches, quick returns and exception approvals, and treat a rising exception count as the plan failing, not flexibility working.
Any incident or near miss where the worker was beyond a scheduling rule, or had been awake more than [hours], is reviewed as a fatigue incident. Findings feed back into the rules table. The plan is reviewed annually and after any fatigue-related incident.