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Forbes: Didn’t get enough sleep? You might as well be drunk

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Our Readiband, used by the Vancouver Canucks and the US Military, has been featured in Forbes Magazine.

Kelly Clay, a contributor to Forbes, spoke with our founder Pat Byrne about the history behind Fatigue Science, the technology, and how Readiband is helping individuals understand their effectiveness scores in real-time.

In the article titled, Didn’t Get Enough Sleep? You Might As Well Be Drunk, Clay says that “Readiband serves to drive actionable, behaviour changing insights around sleep patterns and human performance in a practical and scientifically valid way.”

Startup Canada: Top 100 startups features Fatigue Science

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Fatigue Science has been featured in Startup Canada’s list of 1000 startups along side some of the top start ups from the creative, education and technology industries.

For Fatigue Science the Startup Canada piece was an opportunity to talk about the story behind the development of the most validated fatigue measurement technology available in the world – the Readiband.

In the article, Pat Byrne Fatigue Science’s VP and founder, talks about the two years he spent traveling all over North America to speak with researchers, sleep labs, universities and members of the military in order to understand what technology was available to measure sleep and fatigue. Byrne then realized that he could use the existing technology to create an entirely new platform to measure sleep and fatigue in the workplace – that was when the Readiband was born.

Byrne also gives his advice for other startups in the article saying that:

My number one piece of advice as an entrepreneur and startup founder is to be passionate about what it is you are trying to accomplish with your business. Work hard and learn as much as you can from people you connect with as your business grows.

Why we need to stop using the term human error in accident investigations

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Vancouver airport near miss

In April 2013, human error by an airport controller at Vancouver Airport mixed up the ID’s of two planes almost causing a serious accident. Luckily, the mix-up was solved and no one was killed. When investigating the cause of the incident at Vancouver Airport, the Transport Safety Board of Canada (TSBC), used our scientifically validated Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool (FAST) to identify fatigue as the cause for human error. By reviewing the airport controllers actual schedule, FAST was able to identify that the controller did not obtain sufficient sleep before their shift and was therefore fatigued at the time of the incident.

By using objective data, TSBC now understands exactly what caused the human error and that ‘fatiguing schedules’ can greatly increase the likelihood of human error occurring.

So why are we still only referring to ‘human error’ as a cause?

In many accidents, investigators would run a series of investigations to establish that it was human error that was the cause.

A September 2012 study by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proves that self-reported studies, similar to the ones conducted to establish human error, are not accurate. The results showed that people do not normally feel fatigued until they lose 30% of their reaction time due to sleep loss. That is equivalent to the reaction time of people who are legally drunk at 0.08% blood alcohol.

Objective data is needed for 24/7 organizations to improve safety

In order for high-risk organizations such as aviation, air traffic control, healthcare or nuclear industry where reducing accident risk is imperative to the health, safety and wellbeing of their employees, objective data must be used to identify the root cause of human error in accidents.

The most accurate and validated way to improve safety is with our fatigue management technology – FAST and Readiband. This software is the “officially sanctioned” US Department of Defence fatigue analysis system.

FAST used to pinpoint the root of human error

FAST is our user-friendly scientifically validated software that has been developed for schedulers and planners to identify areas of fatigue risk in employee rosters. The data can then be used for objective comparisons and optimal schedules may be selected for proposed work periods or mission critical events. FAST is used by major accident investigators in North America and Australia including The US National Transportation Safety Board,  The US Federal Railroad Administration and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

Readiband is a proactive strategy to improve safety

On the other hand, Readiband can be used as a proactive strategy for organizations to improve workplace safety.  By wearing the Readiband, sleep data is collected and summarized in clear visual reports containing fatigue analytics that allow administrators to manage fatigue risk.