THE HIGHLIGHTS

What is Workplace Fatigue?

Fatigue is a workplace hazard and can be associated with safety and health of the employee. Here are some examples of workplace fatigue:

1. Always feeling tired, weary, or sleepy that results from prolonged mental and physical work.
2. Extended periods of anxiety, exposure to harsh environments, or loss of sleep. 
3. A result of prolonged mental or physical strain. 

What are the Effects of Fatigue?

1. Reduced alertness - Tired workers are not able to process information as quickly or accurately and may have difficulty focusing on a single task. As a result, this can result in the ability to perform tasks with precision and accuracy needed for complex jobs.
2. Emotional concerns and stress - Fatigue is a common symptom of mental health problems which includes depression and grief, and may trigger other symptoms such as irritability and lack of motivation at work.
3. Increased sickness - Insufficient sleep wears the body down and affects a person's ability to fight colds, flu, and other illnesses. This will then result in more absenteeism from work. 
4. Severe Headaches - Headaches are a sign of fatigue, but they can also be a sign of dehydration. 

The effect of fatigue can lead to increased risk of workplace near-miss incidents and accidents and endangering oneself at workplace.

How to Prevent Workplace Fatigue?

Source: WSH Council (https://www.tal.sg/v/topics/fatigue/fatigue-management)

HSB's Initiatives in Preventing Workplace Fatigue

1. Providing Adequate Lighting
    a. Adequate lighting in the office and rest areas are provided

2. Providing facilities for breaks and reminding workers to stay hydrated
    a. Rest area is available at all sites, for the workers to rest during break hours
    b. A water parade will be conducted during hot weather as a reminder to drink water.
    c. Water points are provided at designated locations within the site for workers’ convenience to 
        top up their bottles

As part of our WSHE contribution towards the industry, HSB have actively participated in forums and conferences with our Top Management being invited as speakers for these events. During these presentations, we shared our WSHE journey, putting forward the efforts and approach that we have taken. HSB places paramount importance on safety beliefs, values and attitudes in harnessing our safety culture and organizational sustainability.

LTA Safety Forum - 13th July 2023

Executive Director, Mr. Alan Nah, sharing the elements of HSB's culture

Growing our culture has been the major part of our humble WSHE journey. Harnessing the 6 key elements of our culture have taken us to where we are today. At the LTA Safety Forum, our Executive Director, Mr Alan Nah, shared the initiatives, concepts and set-up that HSB have implemented for each of the elements in our culture. The presentation reflected HSB’s Top Management investment and leadership commitment in building our HSB’s culture. HSB also puts a strong emphasis on harnessing our WSHE culture through compassion, respect, and carrying out our individual responsibility in taking care of the workforce.

BCAA-IOSH Singapore Workplace Safety & Health Conference 2023

The theme of the conference was “WSH Excellence Through Advanced Technologies in the Construction Industry”. HSB is consistently integrating advanced technology in our construction process from planning, monitoring, and solutions.

Mr Alan Nah’s presentation “Enhancing WSH Performance and Productivity through Technology” focused on HSB’s integration of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) into our training programs. Video demonstration of our VR and AR training were shared during the presentation to allow audiences to have a better visualization of our training process. In line with our WSHE Culture, we shared how technology has been able to revolutionize the construction industry by providing solutions that increases accuracy, enhance training efficiency, reduce construction time, and improve the safety of construction workers. All these would result in operational excellence.
 

WSHE Benefits

The information and knowledge gained through such events are beneficial in our Continual Improvement in WSHE. Likewise, HSB hopes to contribute towards the improvement of WSHE in various industries through sharing our values and attitudes towards achieving WSHE excellence.