Revamped department Fatigue Management Policy
applies to all ITD workers

The ITD Fatigue Management Policy was recently revamped to more closely reflect how we as a department operate. Several substantive changes resulted from discussions at all levels of the ITD workforce to identify and manage risk due to fatigue. The policy’s intent is to protect employees by minimizing physical and/or mental weariness that can lead to mistakes or accidents by fatigued workers.

“The policy applies to all workers at ITD, and is particularly relevant for groups of employees who tend to work long hours in the field, such as our maintenance crews and our construction inspectors,” said ITD Chief Operating Officer Travis McGrath.

A series of heavy winter storms hit most of the state last February, causing long hours and thus the need to re-evaluate the interim policy.

“The interim policy was tested by the hard winter events,” McGrath explained. “The response to those storms required a significant number of our maintenance employees and even some design/construction staff to put in a lot of hours to reopen closed roads."

In May 2019, McGrath, ITD Safety Manager Randy Danner and Chief Human Resources Officer Brenda Williams met with employees to discuss possible changes to the policy. Those discussions resulted in several significant changes.

The key changes relate to allowable single-shift durations, extended workweek durations, and unforeseen or emergency situations. The policy revision also makes it clear that supervisors and employees have a shared responsibility to identify and mitigate fatigue risk.

Workers are encouraged to travel in pairs whenever possible, so there’s another driver if fatigue sets in, or someone else who can step in if the original driver is trying to “push through” the fatigue and is making themselves susceptible in the process.

Unforeseen Circumstances or Emergency Situations are addressed in Section C of the policy. There are many possible situations that would qualify, but all of them require prior verbal approval from the employee’s manager or supervisor. In addition, the supervisor must conduct a Fatigue Assessment (Appendix 2) and document the approval in writing (Appendix 3) by the next business day.

The policy applies to all employees except Division of Aeronautics pilots, who instead must follow the Aeronautics Flight Operations Manual and Federal Aviation Administration requirements.

The new policy can be found on Share Point under Policy Finder – It is #5552 - Employee Shift Duration and Fatigue Management.
http://itdportal/sites/Admin/BSM3/PolicyFinder/default.aspx

Any questions concerning this fatigue policy can be directed to Randy Danner (7-8038) or your supervisor.

Published 01-31-20