Intentional downtime is considered to be beneficial to workers, because it supports good mental health. This can be in the form of formal work breaks, flexible working or time off in lieu, which is considered ‘their time’, rather than work time. Due to the permissive nature of this time, workers are able to relax and recharge without feelings of guilt or fear of reproach.
However, if downtime is due to an intermittent workload, but is still considered ‘work time’, the effects can be detrimental.
According to a University of California Irvine study, “it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back into work” after a break in focus. Workers who experience a stop/start workload will incrementally take longer each time this occurs. This is due to them having a finite amount of adaptive energy per day, which is used to deal with changes in routine. When work routines change reactively and sporadically, adaptive energy depletes very quickly. The less adaptive energy workers have in reserve, the more fatigued they will become and the less cognitive function will be available to them. This inevitably leads to workers making more mistakes and taking more short-cuts.
What workers do during this downtime also has an effect on their capacity to refocus back to work. Social media studies have identified that the addictive nature of social media can be a permanent distraction. Essentially, once a worker has accessed social media in their downtime, they will not fully focus back on work when required to, as the pleasure and reward receptors in the brain are stimulated to want another ‘hit’. A study on Social, Emotional and Neurological Effects of Intermittent Detachment from Social Media Use (Olivia Brown Malone University, 2020) showed that 90% of participants found it difficult not to look at message on social media when they should have been focused on doing something else. This ‘addiction’ may affect younger workers as they typically spend more time on social media than older generations.
However, doing nothing during downtime is equally detrimental, as boredom can set in. This leads to either lethargy, which induces sleepiness, or agitation which induces stress. Both these states make refocusing difficult and it can be especially challenging to stay alert in a safety critical environment such as working trackside.
Additionally, findings show that older adults are more vulnerable to the effects of distraction, which has been documented in a series of studies by Hasher 1988-1999. It states that, not only do they take 2 - 7 minutes longer than their younger counterparts to refocus, but they struggle with the effects of fatigue, due to loss of adaptive energy, much more quickly and for longer too. Given that, according to (National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR)) approximately 28% of trackworkers are over the age of 50, there must be a solution to reduce these risks.
There is no doubt that intermittent workloads can cause trackworkers to become more fatigued and render them less able to stay alert and safe during their shifts. The use of geofencing technology enables workers to continue with their work, under these conditions, knowing that they will be alerted should they lose situational awareness. This personal protective equipment will save trackside workers’ lives, because it provides a solution that doesn’t rely on them being focused.
