Future directions in fatigue and safety research

Fatigue is regarded as a major contributor to workplace and highway morbidity and mortality. While the scientific literature is replete with studies that can be traced back more than a hundred years, much remains to be done to improve our knowledge of and ability to alleviate the consequences of fatigue. Moreover, given the dramatic transformation of modern work systems due to a global and 24/7 economy, there is increasing urgency in improving our understanding of fatigue as a safety risk factor, its etiology and management. As a result, a Hopkinton Conference was organized to review the state of knowledge in the area and define future directions for research aimed at preventing or mitigating the consequences of fatigue. The Hopkinton Conference paradigm brings together leading experts on a key research area to define scientific gaps and research needs, and serves as a stimulus for further collaboration. Over the course of several months prior to the conference, participants draft state-of-the-art reviews covering various aspects of the research topic. In this case, five working groups were formed, each charged with developing collaborative manuscripts in a given topic area of interest, as follows: the Link Between Fatigue and Safety, Demographic Issues in Fatigue, Predicting Fatigue, Technological Approaches in the Management of Fatigue, and Organizational Factors in the Management of Fatigue. The participants then convened for a 2 day conference at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety in Hopkinton to review, debate, and revise the draft manuscripts; examine global issues; and discuss research priorities. The output from this collective effort is captured in this special issue of Accident Analysis and Prevention.