ABSTRACT
Fatigue is a normal physiological and behavioural state. The role of normal fatigue is homeostatic in nature leading to periods of reduced alertness while optimising conditions for good-quality, restorative sleep. Fatigue is similarly involved in crashes and occurrences in other transport modes. Globally, transportation workers are concerned about these statistics and the health and safety consequences of fatigue. This chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an overview of current key fatigue management strategies and gives insight into future novel options to manage fatigue. It discusses the history, implementation, limitations, and proper use of biomathematical models of fatigue for fatigue risk management in transportation. The book describes how established measures can be used to build so-called “fatigue profiles” allowing people operating different forms of vehicles and vessels in the road, rail, and sea transport sectors to be compared on the occurrence, causes, and effects of fatigue.
