Findings from a systematic review of fatigue interventions: What's (not) being tested in mining and other industrial environments

Abstract

Background: Fatigue negatively impacts mineworker health and safety. In this paper, we identify fatigue interventions tested on industrial shiftworkers and explore their effects and the factors that may influence application in an industrial setting such as a mine site. Methods: This review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist. A structured, systematic search of the literature was conducted to identify relevant studies published between 1980 and 2020. Researchers independently conducted article screening and study quality appraisals against pre-established criteria, and then extracted data and conducted a narrative synthesis of the included studies. Results: Seven intervention studies, out of 1651 articles initially screened, were retained for narrative synthesis. Four studies tested the alerting effects of brightlight treatment, one evaluated the effectiveness of blue-light blocking glasses at improving daytime sleep quality and nighttime vigilance, and two examined whether sleep hygiene and alertness management trainings improved sleep quality or alertness. There was substantial evidence for the use of bright-light treatments to improve night shiftworker alertness, but insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of blue-light blocking glasses and sleep hygiene and alertness management trainings due to the small number of studies included. Shiftworkers were mostly male and employed in industrial subsectors such as production and manufacturing, oil and gas, and transportation. No mining-specific intervention studies were identified. Conclusions: Future research is needed to identify effective fatigue risk management interventions for the mining industry as well as best practices for implementing these interventions with mineworkers.

The effect of evening light on circadian-related outcomes: A systematic review

“…30 Determining the optimal timing of light exposure presents additional concerns. 31 Since the crossover point varies among individuals, 32 the effect of the light exposure during the night can be hard to predict. For example, two workers with respective crossover points at 05:00 and 03:00 who receive light at 04:00 would shift in opposite directions; one would phase delay, becoming more aligned with the night shift schedule, while the other would phase advance, exacerbating circadian misalignment.…”