Applying principles of fatigue science to accident investigation: Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) fatigue investigation methodology

ABSTRACT

Fatigue that is related to the amount and quality of sleep obtained can impair human performance in ways that can lead to accidents. As many transportation industries operate around the clock, fatigue and its effects cannot be eliminated completely; instead, they must be managed. A first step is to document the prevalence and role of fatigue in accidents that occur. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) routinely investigates such transportation industry incidents to determine if fatigue was present, if it played a role, and if there were practices in place to effectively manage it and associated risks. Herein, we summarize and describe the TSB’s fatigue investigation methodology in the hopes that investigators of other organizations and domains will find the concepts applicable to their operational context.

KEYWORDS:

• Accident investigation
• sleep-related fatigue
• human factors