Fatigue: There’s No Longer an Excuse To Ignore the Signs

“The signs of fatigue are all around us. The question is what are you going to do about them before they become a risk to your business?”

One of the things that is genuinely surprising is that we know as individuals, as a society and as organisations that fatigue is a genuine issue.

We see it everywhere. You only have to drive a couple of junctions down the motorway to see the “Don’t Drive Tired” signs. We can see visible signs of fatigue like yawning, inattention, lack of focus and making mistakes in our peers, co-workers, friends and family.

So, we know it is an issue. And when people work in safety-critical sectors or where even the smallest decisions and moments count, we are interested to learn why some organisations can be hesitant in adopting predictive biometric data-driven fatigue risk management technology like the BaselineNC™ Workplace Fatigue Monitoring Wearable.

Workplace Fatigue: Turning Fear Into Evidence

One of the common misconceptions that organisations hold regarding tackling the fatigue problem is lifting the lid (or opening the box). They are fearful of the fact that if they properly delve into fatigue — whilst they know in their gut that there is a fatigue issue within the business — they cannot unlearn that. The classic guilty knowledge that once you know something you cannot unknow it, and therefore you are compelled to do something about it.

But what is really reassuring is that organisations who have implemented BaselineNC — that had that fear — found that when we lifted the lid together using objective data this ultimately leads to a better understanding of fatigue within the business. It is almost always not as bad as they think. And once they understand what is going on, then what follows is better fatigue risk management leading to better performance. Whether that is productivity, profitability and — of course the big one — improved safety.

For example, the charts below display real data collected from an operator during the BaselineNC EIT Urban Mobility project. There was an overall trend improvement on taking action (reducing fatigue and optimising productivity):

Wearables and Cameras: A Holistic View of Fatigue

Already invested in camera technology for fatigue risk management?

Portable Wearables + Fixed Cameras = More Predictive, Less Reactive: Detect Fatigue Risk Before It Emerges on Camera

Further Reading: Wearables and Cameras: A Holistic View of Fatigue

The Evolution of BaselineNC

Beginning as the Driver Innovation Safety Challenge (DISC), through to FOCUS+ and now BaselineNC, the project has seen the collaboration of academia, medical experts and industry to develop a world leading workplace fatigue monitoring system that can help save lives, reduce risk and deliver efficiencies in public transport but also across other industry sectors and safety-critical job roles.

First Prototype (Left) and Latest Version (Right)

Leading to a wider EIT Urban Mobility funded project involving Edinburgh Trams, DKV Debreceni Közlekedési Zrt. and Edinburgh Napier University, providing valuable data on how the system functions across different modes of public transport.

Recent evolutions include the development of Android™ and iOS® mobile applications, improvements to real-time dashboard visualisations and the development of AI-powered data analysis and insights functionality.

BaselineNC is also now part of the AVEVA™ Partner Ecosystem, supporting the protection of the human asset by further enabling the “human sensor” with a “predictive maintenance” approach.

The BaselineNC Workplace Fatigue Monitoring Wearable has also been featured as part of the EIT Urban Mobility Impact Stories series: Wearable technology for human error prevention in transportation

Additionally, IHF was selected over 113 organisations to deliver the initial DISC contract and BaselineNC was shortlisted as part of the CBRE Innovation Challenge 2026 — as a straight finalist from 290 submissions — based on its client value, ROI potential, market differentiation and ease of implementation. Furthermore, BaselineNC was Highly Commended in the Global Light Rail Awards 2026 Significant Safety Initiative Category.

Ready to enable predictive, objective and proactive fatigue risk management in your safety-critical environments?

Connect with Neil on LinkedIn to discover how BaselineNC can support your fatigue risk management strategy.