Keynote presentation: Fatigue Incident Investigation
| Monday, August 18, 2025 |
| 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM |
| Ballroom |
Overview
Dr Nicholas Mabbott
Details
When a driver leaves the workplace at the end of a long day, they are often impaired. However, sometimes they commence the working day impaired! In a 2023 fatal crash, a driver left a mining workplace after a 12.5-hour shift and stopped at a terminating road T-intersection. He then had to choose the exact moment that he should enter the flow of traffic, the posted speed limit being 100 kph. This gives a travel speed of 27.8 metres per second, so each second was crucial. He chose the incorrect gap between the last vehicle which passed in front of him and the oncoming vehicle. He was T-boned at 100 kph, losing his life instantly. In a discussion with the attending police officer, it became clear that this would not be recorded as a ‘fatigue crash’.
So many crashes and workplace incidents may have fatigue as either a causal or contributing factor and unfortunately, it may be wrongly determined along the lines of: “Incorrect choice”, or “poor decision”, or “driver error / operator error”. Therefore, no matter what the control that is implemented post-incident, it may have no, or little effect on reducing similar incidents from occurring in the future. A better understanding of how sleep contributes to fatigue impairment is needed by safety practitioners and incident investigators.
This session provides the underlying requirements for sleep and how different amounts of sleep, and/or sleep disorders can seriously affect even the smartest and best-trained people. It illustrates the decision-making issues caused by insufficient sleep, by providing a cross section of errors that have changed lives forever. It provides a documented process for better investigating fatigue errors and lists controls required to reduce similar errors in the future. The session will provide a template to allow practitioners to use questions to make better informed decisions about incident causation and appropriate controls to implement.
Speaker
Mr Nicholas Mabbott
Sleep And Fatigue Risk Specialist
Beyond Midnight Consulting
Keynote Address: Fatigue Incident Investigation
Abstract
Biography
Dr Nicholas Mabbott is a Fatigue Risk Management Specialist with over 28 years of experience in sleep and fatigue risk management. He has provided sleep and fatigue management training and education to over 34 thousand people from a wide range of industries. While others tell employees to get eight hours of sleep, Dr Nick educates people on the benefits of sleep and how to get the best sleep possible, and which is appropriate to their rosters. Feedback from a Vice-President of Safety and a Production Manager at one site mentioned the incredible improvement in employee happiness in the workplace. Dr Nick has also been successful in returning full sleep to people who have had sleep disorders, reducing their sleep to as low as three hours a night.
Dr Nicholas Mabbott is a passionate Fatigue Risk Management Specialist, sought out for his highly interesting and informative content on sleep and performance, coupled with his ability to connect with the audience. He uses storytelling to illustrate sleep’s effects on people, both positive and negative, drawing from discussions with some of the 34,000 people educated. He walks the talk with his love of sleep and desire to share the range of benefits of good sleep - from safety to health and wellness, and improved productivity. Nick’s information has changed lives and has the ability to save lives. He recently published his life’s work, with a book titled: “The Wonder of Sleep: Beyond Midnight”.
Dr Nick uses practical strategies to assist people to understand and get better sleep, helping them improve their health and wellness, and safety at work and on the road. He has provided fatigue risk assessments, roster assessments, fatigue incident investigations, assistance with the implementation of fatigue technologies, and training and awareness sessions, to clients in coal and metalliferous mining.
Dr Nick has represented the WA Police Major Crash Division on 19 alleged fatigue crashes (16 fatal), supplying expert evidence to courts and coroners. He assists groups at the workforce and corporate level to better manage workplace safety and performance through enabling the workforce to obtain the best sleep possible. He assists mining groups at the Australian and global level, helping Glencore Coal Assets deliver an Australian “Fatigue Protocol” and assisting AngloAmerica with global implementation of a “Fatigue Standard”.
In the last 15 years he has implemented his theory on sleep timing to assist people to get to sleep within minutes and achieve a full night of sleep. Many employees are now benefitting from increased quality and length of sleep, including those working night shifts. Dr Nick’s main drawcard is his ability to engage people to discuss sleep and fatigue management, not only in the safety space but within the health and wellness arena. People find Dr Nick’s knowledge, coupled with his wit, stories and ability to adapt to different groups, easy to believe and understand. Attendees enjoy taking their learnings home to their families.
