Recently, I was reading a fascinating book about airplane crashes and how poor decision making ultimately led to disaster. What was striking was the similarity to many coronial inquests for outdoor education incidents. Like many fatalities on outdoor expeditions, each of the airplane disasters could've been avoided. However, fatigue and poor decision making ultimately led to disaster.
How Fatigue Impairs Teacher Decision-Making on School Trips
So why are we so impaired by fatigue? When we're fatigued, a number of things happen which reduce our ability to make clear, informed and reasonable decisions. The harder we try, the less effective this becomes. Our focus narrows further and further into a tunnel vision that cripples our ability to make sound, reasoned judgment. This was evident in the cockpit recordings. Instead of clear, thoughtful and decisive action, mistake after mistake was made, culminating in the inevitable plane crash. Experienced pilots forgot their training and simple corrective actions weren't taken.
Fatigue as a Critical Risk Factor in School Excursion Risk Management
The same is true of many fatalities in outdoor education. Fatigue adversely impacts the ability of a teacher to make reasoned, informed decisions. Research has shown that multiple shifts of work and not sleeping for 24 hours (which includes poor/broken sleep), has the same effect on decision making that being drunk has. Do we ever allow teachers to be drunk at work? No! So why do we allow fatigue to be overlooked in our school excursion risk assessments?
When people are fatigued and/or drunk, their reaction time slows, their ability to solve complex problems is significantly inhibited and their ability to perform even the most-simple tasks becomes compromised. The only solution for fatigue is sleep!
Good Decision-Making: Your Best Risk Management Strategy
Good decision making is one of the best risk management strategies you can have on any school excursion. You see something that hasn't gone to plan, doesn't fit or doesn't feel right. You assess the problem, adapt and respond accordingly. Good outdoor leaders will continually do this throughout any program. Most of the time, what they do isn't even noticeable. Unfortunately, when we're fatigued, that vitally important, broad problem-solving skill set stops working. We can only focus on single tasks and, even then, we might only be able to focus on a single part of a single task. Ultimately, diminished capacity invariably leads to bad outcomes.
Learning from Outdoor Education Incidents and Fatigue-Related Accidents
Unfortunately, in outdoor ed incidents, we generally don't have first hand recordings of events as they transpire. However, in many inquests, you can see how fatigue could have impaired judgment and contributed to repeated poor decisions and the downward spiral of events which ultimately resulted in the fatality.
Not all outdoor ed fatalities have fatigue as a contributing factor, but if we're aware of the fact that it's one of the most dangerous problems we can face even as experienced teachers, then we can put systems in place to manage and avoid fatigue and its related hazards.
Essential Questions for Your Fatigue Management Risk Assessment
If we don't want staff to be working 'drunk' from fatigue, we must ask:
How long is an acceptable shift for teachers on school excursions?
What are the tasks that each staff member is doing during this time?
What driving is involved and who is responsible?
Can the load be shared between multiple staff members?
What happens if someone feels fatigued during the excursion?
What backup plans do you have in place?
Are duty of care responsibilities clearly documented and rotated?
Fatigue Management in School Excursion Planning
For outdoor education and school excursions, this is critical. Fatigue can't be pushed through. It can't be ignored. It can't be put off for a 'later' discussion. The end result, like the fatal vehicle accident in New Zealand where the teacher fell asleep at the wheel, demonstrates that fatigue and good decision making don't go hand in hand.
Building Fatigue Management into Your Risk Assessment Systems
Do you have a fatigue management system in place for your school excursions? If not, make it your number 1 priority. Your excursion planning and risk assessment processes should include:
Staff roster planning with clear shift limits and break times documented
Sleep requirements specified in your risk assessment (minimum hours between shifts)
Driving policies that prevent fatigued teachers from transporting students
Backup staff arrangements so fatigued teachers can be relieved of duties
Emergency contact protocols that don't rely on a single fatigued teacher
Clear documentation of who is responsible for supervision at all times
Pre-trip briefings that address fatigue management with all staff
When your excursion planning software or systems include fatigue management protocols alongside student medical information, permission notes, and emergency procedures, you create comprehensive risk management that protects both students and staff.
It's vital that our industry manages risk effectively for those for whom we're responsible. It's essential to have teachers with clear heads and great decision-making skills, so that every outdoor experience is a wonderful and rewarding one for all.
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