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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.

Westjet near accident: YVR fatigued air traffic controller

Fatigue Science was asked to analyze how Fatigue contributed to the Westjet incident at Vancouver’s YVR Airport on April 15th, 2011.

Fatigue related accidents and close calls are completely preventable. Employers can be proactive and have their work schedules examined by the Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool (FAST). This will tell them whether their schedules are creating dangerous periods of time when workers would be at a high risk of making a mistake or having an accident. It allows them to manage the risk to prevent the accidents from happening.

FAST was developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research at the U.S. Army Medical Research Development Command to prevent fatigue related accidents and has been independently validated by the US Department of Transportation. FAST is used by many industries globally and is recommended by the world’s largest re-insurance company MunichRe.

Pilots of USA Airforce One use FAST to review schedule rosters before flight and ensure fatigue is not a risk factor.

The Canadian government and many Canadian industries are just beginning to address this important issue. Some have tried in the past but with FAST and Readibands they are now able to upgrade their fatigue management programs to a modern, evidence based system.