The fatigue fight between the Health Services Union and the NSW Ambulance Service continues, with the next round of negotiations over shifts and rosters about to begin.

Paramedics were reportedly given rosters which required them to be on-call for 16 hours at a time, 7 days a week.

In an interview earlier this month Gerard Hayes, NSW state secretary of the HSU said: “One of the important things that has been gleaned through the Industrial Relations Commission hearing is that the rosters proposed are going to increase fatigue levels and are not consistent with the way forward. The Ambulance Service has acknowledged that.”

Human resources authorities say it highlights the growing focus on fatigue at work and its potential effects on job security, accidents, memory lapses, absenteeism, and a number of other side-effects.

According to fatigue-fighters at Sleepless No More, 56 per cent of Australia’s 1.4 million shift-workers fall asleep at work at least once a week – an alarming figure considering those workers may be driving buses, trucks, cranes or performing any number of other dangerous duties.

Sleep and fatigue expert Elizabeth Shannon says simple tips to avoid the dangers of fatigue include: placing desks near naturally-lit windows for more sunlight exposure; not allowing workers who have been awake for long periods to operate dangerous or heavy equipment or machinery; and allowing 20-minute power-naps at work, encouraging them for shift-workers or those who work after midnight.