2024 Articles

10 October 2024 with copyright
Fatigue

When is the Risk of Fatigue Greatest?

Many 24×7 high-risk industries, including rail, aviation, pipeline, emergency services and healthcare, struggle with balancing safety, productivity and worker well-being. It should be no surprise

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7 July 2024 with copyright
Fatigue

Turn that Frown Upside Down

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand why managing fatigue is challenging for shift workers. The stretches of 12 hour day shifts, most often

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5 May 2024 with copyright
Fatigue

Job Performance at Risk

On June 8, 2022, at 11:28 am central time, a Natural Gas Facility in Quintana, Texas experienced a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (“BLEVE”) when

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3 March 2024 with copyright
Fatigue

The Three C’s of Fatigue

Here’s what we know: all shiftworkers experience fatigue at one time or another. The good news is that understanding the cause of our fatigue can

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1 January 2024 with copyright
Fatigue

Know Thyself

During my daughter’s first year of college, her volleyball coach called me with some shocking news. The coach informed me that my daughter, who played

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Pre 2024 Articles

Arrive Alive

The holiday hustle is upon us. Truth is, we have already experienced a great deal of hustle even before the holiday season arrived. Today’s article

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Know Your Limits, Part 2

Shiftworkers have a special role in the workforce, especially those who work rotating shifts. Most Controllers in the pipeline industry work 12 hour rotating shifts.

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The Science of Sleep

Like air and water, we need sleep to survive. In fact, the brain will force sleep, if necessary, in the form of microsleeps. A microsleep

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Are They Up to Snuff?

Our Team Resource Management course includes a section on defining and applying professionalism. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) believes professionalism is important

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Nutrition Matters

Are all calories created equal? If you are a calorie counter, you may choose your meals based on calorie content and taste. This leads one

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And the Beat Goes On

My mother suddenly became very ill the day after Christmas. Her blood pressure and heart rate had been somewhat erratic for weeks. Could it be

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Sleep Physiology

We interviewed a young shift worker who admitted to getting only 5 or 6 hours of sleep each night. He reported that he stayed very

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Drowsy Driving

Sleepiness and driving are a dangerous combination. According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 6,400 U.S. deaths are attributed to drowsy driving each year.

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Off-Duty Choices Matter

Choices produce outcomes. Two people can go into the same grocery store, push the same sized carts through it, and choose from the same inventory.

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Caffeine Overload

Caffeine consumption is not without controversy in the community of health and wellness advisors even though it’s legal and unregulated throughout most of the world.

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Alertness Aids

Our bodies are designed with an innate 24-hour cycle of energy and hormone production. Light enters the eyes and stimulates the brain to wake. When

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Circadian Rhythm

Imagine our surprise at seeing Controllers turn on the radio, push away from their consoles, and begin dancing in the middle of the Control Room

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Sleep Disorders

Controllers and their companies share responsibility for ensuring there is adequate time for getting sufficient rest between shifts. The company must provide time for employees

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Are You Tired?

Joe has just completed the shift turnover and is finally ready to leave after his rotation on night shift. Due to a possible leak on

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Heart Health

February is American and Canadian Heart Health Month. This is a time when we highlight the need to remind people that heart disease remains the

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What’s the Big Deal

What unexpected and unanticipated lessons have been learned in the past year? What new lessons will this year bring? Will organizations and individuals do things

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A Time to Play

The holiday season has arrived. Some of you feel elated by that; others feel a deep sense of dread. This time of year can be

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Diet: A 4-letter Word

The Scrabble dictionary contains 4,030 four-letter words. There are, undoubtedly, many fine words contained in that list such as ship, goat, free and plot to

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Quantity and Quality

Air, food, water and sleep are some of the most important resources our bodies need. Sleep is a basic, physiological need which our bodies cannot

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The Filthy 15: Lack of Professionalism

What does professionalism mean to you? Does your job description mention professionalism like these controller job descriptions? Demonstrated professional work experience in a customer service environment,

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Balance It Out

I’ve heard it said that common sense is not so common. No one is born with it, but it can certainly be developed over time.

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The Filthy 15: Norms

What is normal in your workplace? What are the mostly nonwritten rules and behaviors dictated and followed by the majority of the group?  I remember

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Digital Detox

Have you ever walked out of your house, forgot to bring your cell phone with you, and nearly panicked at the thought of leaving without

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The Filthy 15: Fatigue

We have provided since 2011 and continue to provide monthly “managing fatigue” articles that correlate to the topics in our managing fatigue calendars.  The purpose

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Alertness Exercises

Control room operators, like many of us, spend a great deal of time sitting. It is likely the most comfortable position for monitoring the pipeline,

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The Filthy 15: Stress

I am unfamiliar with any efforts to identify and to address the effects of job stress in most pipeline companies.  In fact, one job posting

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A Time to Simplify

The month of March is an important time in my family.  My dad, brother, nephew, granddaughter, and I have birthdays this month. We enjoy getting

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Tune Your Engine

Have you ever had a car, motorcycle or truck that you liked a lot? You probably took very good care of the engine in that

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Assess and Adjust

During a recent workload assessment, I observed a Controller who completed the shift-change process thoroughly, then immediately set to work organizing his console. He rearranged

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What Happens When We Sleep?

Good morning! Did you wake singing, “Zippadee-doo-dah, zippadee-a; my, oh my, what a wonderful day”? A good night’s sleep can leave you feeling livelier, with

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The Importance of Water

Water is the primary foundational component of health. It’s known to be the most important nutrient we take in because it’s involved in every function

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Teaching and Learning

“Associate with people who are likely to improve you.  Welcome those who you are capable of improving.  The process is a mutual one. People learn

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Working with Others

“When you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, remember that your defining characteristic – what defines a human being – is to

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Drugged Out Legally

For some of our readers, the abuse of drugs may be a very sensitive topic because you or someone you care about has become physically

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Circadian Rhythm Effects

The term ‘circadian’ comes from the Latin circa meaning around, and diem meaning day. Our bodies go through a fairly predictable series of processes in

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Relationships Matter

Oh, just look at them . . . isn’t this a heart-warming scene? You can see the connection between them. Do you remember the feelings

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Life is a Privilege

I have thought much about death this week, particularly at night when I tried to sleep. We had client meetings scheduled to work on a

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Family Gathering

Family Gathering In The Lost Country by William Gay, there is a passage about a hospital that is appropriate for those who work shift work

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Sleepy Driving

Sleepy Driving Drowsy Driving Prevention Week is scheduled in November.  The National Safety Foundation sponsors it and the organization provides information at https://sleepfoundation.org/drowsy-driving.  How many

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Off Duty But Not Resting

Off Duty But Not Resting What shiftworkers do when off duty is a contentious subject.  Scarlet Knight and I were leading fatigue risk management training

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Types of Fatigue

Types of Fatigue For work and pleasure, I traveled every week between the first week of February and the last week of May.  After I

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The Theory of Multiple Causes

The Theory of Multiple Causes The “Operating Experience” section of the PHMSA CRM inspection questions (G1-1) outlines a process for “employing a formal, structured approach

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