Case Studies
The Vancouver Canucks
During the 2008–2009 National Hockey League season, Fatigue Science worked with the Vancouver Canucks to optimize player performance.Players wore the Fatigue Science ReadiBand™ for several weeks, which tracked the quality, timing and quantity of their sleep. The results were converted to fatigue and reaction-time data to demonstrate how players’ sleep in the days prior to a game influenced their reaction time during competition. This information was then used to assist the team’s management with changes in their training and travel schedules in order to improve the players’ sleep and also their performance. The result was an increased number of wins in games where players would have otherwise been fatigued.
Industry insiders and the media lauded the Fatigue Science tools and methodology as the Canucks’ “secret weapon”.
The United States Department of Defense
The military’s continuous and sustained operations seriously tax the performance capabilities and combat readiness of both ground troops and aviation personnel. In the absence of a solid fatigue-management program soldiers and pilots are at risk of making mistakes that can have dire consequences in terms of mission success. In fact, statistics published by the Air Force and Navy Safety Centers have identified operator fatigue as a significant contributor to mishaps.Unfortunately, there often is little choice concerning exact mission timelines due to the unpredictability of enemy actions and other operational constraints. However, when some degree of flexibility exists, the United States Army, Air Force, and Navy take advantage of the Fatigue Science instantiation of the patented SAFTE® model to help ensure that the mission timelines are structured such that the most mission-critical tasks are scheduled at times when personnel are most capable of performing at their best.This same Fatigue Science fatigue-prediction and scheduling tool provides commanders with an objective evaluation of how unit effectiveness is being impacted by the rigorous schedules of all deployments – information that helps guide tactical decisions and the implementation of appropriate counter-fatigue strategies.
Island Tug & Barge
Fatigue contributes to 16% of critical vessel casualties and 33% of injuries within the marine industry. Fatigue Science was commissioned by Island Tug & Barge, a Canadian marine company, to evaluate their organization’s unique fatigue risk and to make recommendations to reduce the likelihood of fatigue related accidents.Workers aboard the various vessels wore our ReadiBand™ for 7–21 days. Workers then received a confidential sleep report, and an evaluation of their individual accident risk based on their sleep history. The workers then took part in mitigation training to improve their sleep and to help prevent future accidents.Island Tug & Barge’s management team also received a detailed fatigue risk analysis report showing them which specific shifts, vessels, age groups and locations had the highest risk of a fatigue related accident. This allowed them to target and implement specific mitigation strategies, thereby reducing the company’s risk for fatigue related accidents and improving their employees’ performance.
Queensland Rail
Australian rail company Queensland Rail (QR), hired Fatigue Science to help assess employees’ fatigue levels, work effectiveness and accident risk, specifically for QR Network employees in the southeast Queensland train control centers – a safety critical area within QR, responsible for monitoring of train positions and placement 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.The results showed that while some employees were getting sufficient sleep, many others fell far short of the recommended 8 hours of sleep needed each day for optimum performance. Overall the group assessment results revealed that on average, an increase of 30 minutes daily sleep was required to significantly enhance the effectiveness of the workforce at QR and to reduce the risk of fatigue related accidents.Using our methodology and tools, one of QR’s control centers increased off-duty sleep by one full hour, and with Fatigue Science input, management was able formulate a strategy to achieve greatly improved effectiveness of their work force.
Using our methodology and tools, QR’s management was able formulate a strategy to achieve greatly improved effectiveness of their work force.