Identifying and Reducing Workforce Fatigue in Rapid Renewal Projects (2014)

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1Background The National Highway System (NHS) is composed of 163,000 miles of significant rural and urban roads, including about 46,000 miles of the Interstate system. Many of the pavements on these highways, constructed during the infrastructure construction boom in the 1960s and 1970s, have exceeded their design lives due to continuously increasing traffic demand and aging without major renewal. This increased traffic comes at a time when many highway assets are reaching the end of their useful design life and need to be rebuilt or replaced. To meet the challenge of aging and increasingly congested highways, rapid renewal construc- tion approaches that minimize the impact of construction on traffic flow, especially during peak periods, are being developed and implemented. Working conditions associated with rapid renewal approaches include work conducted during off-peak hours, continuously through the weekend, during extended night-time hours, and in work zones adjacent to traffic. All of these working conditions have the potential to increase workforce fatigue and stress, resulting in reduced levels of workforce safety and construction productivity. In response to these concerns, SHRP 2 Renewal Project R03, Identifying and Reducing Work- force Fatigue in Rapid Renewal Projects, was initiated so that the factors associated with workforce fatigue and stress in the rapid renewal environment can be understood and the risks to worker safety and construction productivity can be managed and reduced. The project objectives are as follows: • Document and assess the impact of human fatigue on work activities commonly associated with rapid renewal highway construction projects, including the impact on safety, quality, cost, and schedule. • Develop strategies for organizing, structuring, and executing rapid renewal projects that incorporate fatigue reduction techniques into the project planning process. • Evaluate a range of techniques that reduce fatigue and its effects on the workforce. • Develop strategies for educating the rapid renewal highway construction community and its leaders on the importance of mitigating fatigue on rapid renewal projects. To achieve these objectives, the team implemented a two-phase approach, involving initial research activities such as project and literature review and field work to document fatigue impacts, followed by a development phase that created contextually appropriate training, work schedule assessment, work practice guidance, and fatigue countermeasures. The team also addressed organizational issues and processes for implementation of fatigue risk management as an integral part of contractor safety management systems. A companion document, SHRP 2 Executive Summary

2Renewal Project R03: Guide to Identifying and Reducing Workforce Fatigue in Rapid Renewal Projects, contains specific implementation-oriented material for use by highway construction contrac- tors, including superintendents and safety personnel. The guide includes organizational prac- tices guidance, technical reference material such as fatigue countermeasures, training material, and work schedule risk assessment and guidance. Fatigue in Operational Settings An initial review of 13 selected rapid renewal projects in six different states suggests that rapid renewal practices include working during off-peak hours, continuously on weekends, at night, and in zones adjacent to traffic. While these strategies improve schedule performance, the associ- ated conditions increase worker fatigue and stress and thereby reduce workforce safety and con- struction productivity. Shift workers are particularly prone to fatigue-related injuries if they work night shifts, extended shifts (10 or more hours), or weeks longer than 40 h. Review of the scientific and technical literature shows that biological and environmental factors influence an individual’s need for sleep. Fatigue is a function of both time awake (the homeostatic process) and time of day (the circadian process). Work-related fatigue is there- fore a function of shift duration and shift timing: Long shifts may not provide adequate opportunity for rest; work at odd hours may require sleep during the day, resulting in poor sleep quality and less sleep obtained. Sleep deprivation affects both cognition and sensations of fatigue. Cognitive effects can include degraded alertness, difficulty concentrating, forget- fulness, and confusion, as well as impaired performance on specific tasks. Accumulated sleep deprivation can result in severe performance decrements. Individuals vary in their need for sleep and, therefore, in their responses to sleep loss. Sleep loss can be countered only by obtaining additional sleep; severe sleep loss can require substantial recovery time. Following sleep deprivation, subjective ratings of fatigue return to baseline more quickly than does cognitive performance. Studies of the effects of restricted sleep in operational settings demonstrate that sleep loss degrades task performance, resulting in higher rates of medical errors, unsafe driving behav- iors, and motor vehicle accidents. Fatigue has been implicated as well in aviation and rail accidents. Shift workers are particularly prone to fatigue-related injuries if they work night shifts, extended shifts (10 or more hours), or work weeks longer than 40 h. Construction work- ers have elevated risks for occupational injury and fatality compared with most other occupa- tional groups. In construction, the likelihood of occupational injury is higher for those working extended shifts, night and evening shifts, and weekly overtime. A work culture that expects workers to be available for overtime work likely contributes to the relatively high risk of injuries and fatalities. Field Study of Fatigue in Rapid Renewal Projects To obtain a more detailed and practical understanding of the nature and severity of worker fatigue in rapid renewal highway construction, the team carried out a field study using survey and subject matter expert (SME) interview techniques. Recruiting for field research participants was based on the initial contacts to state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) provided by the TRB steering committee. From each of the six states solicited for involvement (New York, Florida, Washington, Utah, California, and Illinois), the team identified candidate projects as described in Appendix A, along with key state DOT contacts. These DOT contacts were further solicited for prospective participation as working group members and were requested to provide contacts with the con- tractor companies for those projects that were still in the active phase of construction. This was followed by an initial e-mail solicitation to the construction company project managers and fol- lowed up with telephone discussions with those companies expressing interest in supporting the

3research. The final set of projects for conducting field research and the time periods during which it was conducted are as follows: • Florida, SR-50: March 2011 • New York, I-287: May 2011 • Washington, SR-520: February, March, June 2011 The team conducted interviews with 20 SMEs and administered the survey to 47 respondents, including both management and labor. Six SMEs were also surveyed, for a total of 61 unique respondents. SMEs were recruited primarily through snowball sampling, and survey respondents through convenience sampling. The SMEs were interviewed concerning common scheduling practices, observed fatigue issues, fatigue training, and countermeasures. Interview respondents came from a broad range of occupational types and included project managers, construction managers, project and field engineers, general superintendents, and inspection managers. Survey respondents represented a broad range of roles including engineers, inspectors, equipment opera- tors, truck drivers, laborers, and traffic control workers. The survey instrument addressed a variety of schedule issues, sleep obtained under different schedules, attitudes towards fatigue, and use of countermeasures. Workers’ exposure to fatigue and their experiences of fatigue were each assessed using several measures constructed from survey responses. The survey instrument and interview guide are provided in Appendix B. A substantial amount of data were collected and analyzed, with key findings that include the following: • General agreement that fatigue is a safety problem. • Informal management heuristics for recognizing and limiting impacts of fatigue. • Informal application of fatigue countermeasures such as caffeine use (96% of workers) and as-needed rest breaks. • Occasional use of napping during down time or meal breaks (16% of workers). • Management tendency to be “on call” during continuous work periods, resulting in severe sleep disruption. • Among workers on conventional schedules, 36% reported either falling asleep on the job, being afraid they might, or having difficulty staying awake during their commute home. Among respondents working closure weekends, 67% reported similar sleepiness events. • Closure work leads to a higher proportion of workers at risk for fatigue-related error (67%) com- pared with those working a conventional schedule (11%), based on prior sleep-wake modeling. • With rapid renewal practices (e.g., weekend closures) workers reported excessive work hours. The nine respondents who worked the weekend closure reported an average of about 73 h of work by the end of the closure Saturday—that is, by the end of Day 6 of what for most of them was a 12-day stretch. The project documented a general awareness of fatigue as a problem, especially for managers. However, across the job sites visited, the team found little evidence of focused, systematic atten- tion to the problem. Investigators were assured that fatigue training did take place, but this train- ing appears to have been largely informal, and may not have focused on the importance of sleep. The key finding from the field research is that fatigue is a routine problem and that rapid renewal construction practices exacerbate it. Fatigue Countermeasures A separate task synthesized the research on fatigue countermeasures for potential application in the highway construction sector. Among the 18 fatigue countermeasures identified, the eval- uation suggests that nine of them have potential near-term applicability in the rapid renewal

4environment, including the preventive countermeasures of adequate sleep, “defensive napping,” a good sleeping environment, and limiting overtime or work schedule modification. Operational countermeasures include caffeine, napping, “anchor sleep,” and rest breaks. Additionally, the short-term impact of exercise may be beneficial in getting people out of the work environment briefly, and self- or peer-monitoring is potentially effective in detecting fatigue-related error poten- tial and correcting it. Fatigue education should be the basis for applying the countermeasures. The key challenge in implementing fatigue countermeasures in the highway construction industry is the lack of an economic framework that would raise the issue to the level of a critical safety problem. Compounding this issue is the problem of a very wide range of organizations engaged in highway construction. They can range from relatively small companies to large joint ventures formed for the purpose of specific megaprojects. Since there is no standards-body over- sight concerning working hours and safety in highway construction, fatigue risk management will need to be carried out by individual organizations, within the parameters established by a credible body. The main phases of implementation of fatigue risk management in the rapid renewal highway construction industry appear to be as follows: • Raise awareness of risk factors and motivation to mitigate. • Assess risk factors for specific project operations. • Develop and implement fatigue training for workers and managers. • Develop methods for monitoring and assessing risk factors and countermeasures. • Identify fatigue-proofing strategies for specific operations. Critical Issues for Fatigue Risk Management in the Highway Construction Industry Evaluation of the field research data and the scientific-technical literature on fatigue in the context of established practices and operational constraints in the highway construction industry suggests a number of critical issues and risks associated with implementing fatigue risk management in this work environment. These include • Fatigue is essentially a safety issue, yet one which is not “owned” by a specific stakeholder. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) establishes broad operating param- eters for rest breaks and overtime pay, and more detailed safety oversight occurs at the state level. OSHA and state safety agencies simply require injury or accident reporting in a man- ner that allows documentation, but no root cause investigation that would allow fatigue to be implicated. The primary risk related to this issue is that the problem will continue to be acknowledged as a work-related risk, but one that does not warrant attention at a level suf- ficient to address it properly. • Fatigue risk management programs are likely to be oversophisticated given the industry’s current observed state of safety function implementation. Implementation of Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS) implies a high degree of organizational development, including an existing safety management system, into which specific policies and practices concerning fatigue mitiga- tion would be introduced. The principal risk related to this issue is that FRMS implementation guidance could be developed that would simply go beyond the capabilities of most contracting firms. Further, the team’s field research suggests that fatigue and work scheduling currently play no role in risk assessment and contract award selection, and that attempting to introduce such approaches without a clear business value proposition would be problematic. • Safety data about the effectiveness of interventions such as training and more sophisticated FRMS are extremely limited. Without demonstrated causal relationships between fatigue and accident/injury risk in the highway construction sector, and without solutions that have been shown to reduce the problem, operators are likely to conclude that they are doing the best they can and that they are operating in an acceptable risk space.

5• A credible dissemination pathway for the suite of products is needed. Development of these products, such as fatigue training, countermeasure tools, guidance, and references, assumes the existence of a dissemination pathway to effectively distribute the material. The most important issue to be addressed concerns the mechanisms and responsibilities for an online repository, such as a regularly maintained website that can provide access to the various materials. Experience, however, has shown that a website is insufficient for wide- spread outreach. In addition, the website needs to be made broadly available through other organizations that are routinely contacted by highway construction safety personnel. Principal organizations would include the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), and possi- bly OSHA. • An estimated 25,000 to 29,000 highway construction personnel will be engaged in rapid renewal work at some point over the next 10 years, and thus that is the estimated number of workers that could benefit from fatigue-oriented training. • Subject to the limitations of available data, the team estimates that between 1,150 and 1,334 workers each year in the rapid renewal workforce would sustain an injury attributable to fatigue resulting from longer schedules. Organizational Approach to Fatigue Risk Management in Rapid Renewal Highway Construction An integrated approach to fatigue risk management for highway construction work needs to accommodate the unique characteristics of the environment, including the general industry approach to safety, the seasonal nature of construction work, and the likelihood of unpredictable schedule changes due to various factors such as weather, unforeseen obstacles, re-work, and so forth. This involves a series of organizational practices consisting of processes and implementa- tion steps that will, over time, lead to a comprehensive approach to fatigue management. Key elements of this approach are various educational materials, including basic worker and manager training modules for fatigue risk management. Additionally, specific work scheduling aids and work practice guidance based on biomathematical modeling are presented in this report and summarized in a separate guidance document. The basic product consists of specific shift schedule scenarios and variations, along with recommended fatigue countermeasures. The most practical approach to work practice guidance for contracting firms is to use the findings from work schedule fatigue modeling to plan construction activities that incorporate knowledge of fatigue’s impact on workers. Work practice guidance to address fatigue is a blend of specific tactics and countermeasure implementation, such as caffeine usage and worksite nap- ping, and broader organizational practices associated with systematic evaluation and manage- ment of the problem. Unlike specific worksite problems such as traffic management or visibility, which can be addressed with procedures or technology such as lighting, work practices for fatigue management involve individual, crew, and organizational-level interventions. Conclusions and Recommendations The research findings have allowed the project team to develop a number of conclusions and recommendations about fatigue risk management in the highway construction industry. These include the following: • Fatigue is clearly present in rapid renewal environments and presents considerable safety risks. • Existing fatigue risk management programs cannot be used in rapid renewal environments; both development of a tailored suite of tools and implementation facilitation is required.

6• The tools developed in this project have great potential for addressing the fatigue problems identified herein, but they must be introduced to relevant stakeholders and end users in a clear and supportive manner. • Outreach would consist of a broad communications effort aimed at scientific and technical audiences as well as industry stakeholder groups. • Outreach activities should be accompanied by an implementation effort to pilot test the materials developed in this product, evaluate their value and usefulness, and revise them to reflect stakeholder and end user feedback. A realistic time frame for these activities is in the range of 12 to 18 months, in order to engage industry groups, conduct individual outreach meetings, and gather implementation-oriented feedback for potentially improving the product.