Mercury Bay Hi-Ab Services Ltd is committed to Healthy Work and Wellbeing by preventing fatigue in the workplace.

Mercury Bay Hi-Ab Services Ltd recognises fatigue can be caused by many potential factors that can make a worker feel a state of physical and/or mental exhaustion. This can affect a person’s ability to perform tasks safely and effectively. Therefore, Mercury Bay Hi-Ab Services Ltd relies on workers being physically and mentally alert.

Mercury Bay Hi-Ab Services Ltd will treat reports of fatigue at face value. We will manage all issues of fatigue in the workplace in a prompt, impartial and confidential manner that will best suit the employee.

This policy will be made available to all workers including contractors. New workers will be given a copy of this policy at their induction. Managers and supervisors will remind workers of this policy from time to time.

1. What is fatigue?

Fatigue is a lingering tiredness that is constant and limiting. With fatigue, you have unexplained, persistent, and relapsing exhaustion. It is similar to how you feel when you have the flu or have missed a lot of sleep. If you have chronic fatigue, you may wake in the morning feeling as though you’ve not slept. Or you may be unable to function at work or be productive at home. You may be too exhausted even to manage your daily affairs.

Identifying signs of fatigue:

2. Workers Responsibility

  • Communicate with your manager or supervisor if you start to show signs and symptoms of fatigue.
  • Eat a balanced diet.
  • Sleep between 7-9 hours a night with regular bedtime routine.
  • Exercise 2 ½ hours of moderate physical activity throughout the week.
  • Inform your manager or supervisor if a task is beyond your capabilities.

Fatigue is increased by:

3. Employer Responsibility

  • Work schedule includes allocated break times.
  • Rosters are designed to allow for good sleep opportunity and recovery time between workdays.
  • Avoid working in extreme temperatures.
  • Limit physical and mental work demands.
  • Be aware of personal circumstances that affect your workers and provide support.

Investigation process

When responding to reports of fatigue by an employee the following investigation will take place:

  • A confidential conversation between the employee and employer(s), management or supervisor will take place.
  • The aim is to identify whether the cause of fatigue is due to work readiness, if so, corrective actions will be made to reduce or eliminate fatigue.
  • An initial assessment may be made and will determine whether the employee is safe to be at work and carry our work responsibilities.
  • If an employee reports fatigue or takes regular sick days for fatigue this will be noted and documented.

4. Employee obligations

  • If the employee takes a period of more than 3 consecutive sick days, the employer can ask the employee to provide a medical certificate.
  • The employer may ask an employee who says they have workplace fatigue to see a doctor to be properly diagnosed and confirm the reason for their fatigue, however the employee is under no legal obligation.
  • The employee has a duty to report any workplace threat to their health and safety, this may include fatigue.
  • If fatigue has been initiated by stress, please refer to the stress policy for guidance.