The claim, and the science behind it
This is not motivational-poster talk. The benchmark study is Dawson and Reid (1997), published in Nature, which measured people's performance as they stayed awake and compared it to the same people under alcohol. The finding was clean and has held up since.
| Time awake | Performs roughly like | What that means on site |
|---|---|---|
| 17 hours | 0.05% BAC | WA full-licence limit. Slower reactions, worse judgement. |
| 19 hours | about 0.05 to 0.08% BAC | Decision-making and attention measurably down. |
| 24 hours | about 0.10% BAC | Over double the driving limit. Microsleeps likely. |
You would not let a crew member rig a truss with a tinny in hand. Yet a crew that started at 7am and is still derigging at midnight is sitting in the same impairment band, and nobody breathalyses for hours awake.
The point: fatigue is not weakness or a bad attitude. It is a measurable drop in the exact faculties, attention, reaction time and judgement, that keep loads in the air and fingers out of pinch points.
Why our industry is the perfect storm
Live events stack every fatigue risk factor at once.
- Long, irregular hours. A bump-in at dawn and a bump-out after the headline act is a normal day, not an exception.
- Overnight work. Derigging at 2am fights your body clock, when alertness is naturally at its floor.
- Casual and inexperienced crew. Labour-hire and first-season hands may not recognise their own impairment, and may lack the confidence to flag a problem.
- High-consequence tasks. Rigging, dogging, working at height and moving heavy cases are exactly the jobs where a lapse hurts someone.
- Time pressure. The venue wants the room back, the trucks are booked, the next load-in is tomorrow. Speed quietly outranks caution.
Put those together and the loose connection in Cadena's story is not bad luck. It is the predictable output of the system.
What the law actually expects
Under WA's harmonised framework, the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA) places a primary duty of care on a business to ensure health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable, with detail set out in the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 (WA). Fatigue is explicitly treated as a hazard to be managed, and Safe Work Australia (2013) publishes dedicated guidance on managing the risk of fatigue at work. Rigging and dogging are high-risk work requiring the relevant licence, with competent supervision of anyone working under supervision.
Translated: "we ran late" is not a defence. If a fatigued crew is foreseeable, and on event sites it always is, you are expected to have controls in place before the shift, not excuses after it.
The solutions
This is the part that matters. None of it requires cancelling the show. It requires planning the show like humans are doing it.
1. Schedule for humans, not heroics
Build the run sheet around realistic shift lengths and pad it for the things that always go wrong. Cap continuous shifts and roster genuine breaks rather than hoping people grab them. Where a job genuinely runs long, split the crew or bring a fresh team for the bump-out instead of asking the bump-in crew to also derig at midnight. The cost of a second crew is smaller than the cost of one incident.
2. Take the riskiest task off the tired hands
Fatigue climbs through the shift, so the schedule should move away from danger as it goes. Front-load the rigging, the work at height and the heavy lifts into the first hours when the crew is sharp. Leave cable coiling, case-packing and low-consequence pack-down for the tail end. Never let the highest-risk task be the last thing a 14-hour crew does.
3. Build in independent checks
A tired brain is very good at confirming what it expects to see. Defeat that with a second set of eyes. Use two-person sign-off on rigging and load points, where the person who built it is not the only person who checks it. Standardise it with a short checklist or a safe work method statement so the check is a step, not a favour. This is precisely the control that catches the loose connection before the load goes up.
4. Make "stop" a safe word
Cadena's green crew nearly stayed quiet. The fix is cultural. Every person on site, including the newest casual, has explicit authority to stop work if something looks wrong, with zero blowback. Say it out loud at the pre-shift brief. The most experienced rigger in the country still wants the nervous first-year to speak up, because the first-year is sometimes right.
5. Manage the environment
Fatigue is worsened by the conditions, so control them. Keep water and real food available, not just energy drinks, keep work areas lit, and watch heat, which compounds tiredness fast on a WA summer load-in. Use caffeine as a tool, not a lifestyle. It delays the dip, it does not repay the debt, and timing it badly just wrecks the next sleep.
6. Allow controlled rest
On genuinely long calls, a short rostered rest or a 20-minute nap restores far more alertness than pushing through. Build a quiet space into the plan. An hour of lost time that prevents a 2am mistake is the cheapest insurance on the job.
7. Mind the drive home
This is the one people forget. The shift ends, the danger does not. A crew member who is at 0.10-equivalent impairment then climbs into a car for the drive back to Mandurah. Plan the commute as part of the job. Arrange lifts, share cabs, put far-flung crew up overnight, or simply tell people to wait and rest before driving. More crew are hurt going home than on the truss.
8. Train and supervise the green crew
Inexperience and fatigue are a bad pairing. Brief casuals properly, pair them with experienced hands, and supervise high-risk work directly. Teach them to self-assess: if you cannot remember the last few minutes, you are too tired for a load point. Competency and confidence are what turn a quiet worry into a spoken-up catch.
A fatigue plan you can actually run
You do not need a binder. You need a handful of controls that live on the run sheet.
| Control | When | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Realistic shift caps and rostered breaks | Planning | Production manager |
| High-risk tasks scheduled early | Planning | Crew chief |
| Two-person rigging sign-off | On site | Rigger + checker |
| Pre-shift fatigue and fitness check | Shift start | Crew chief |
| Stop-work authority stated in brief | Shift start | Crew chief |
| Food, water, rest space provided | Throughout | Production |
| Safe-commute arrangements | Shift end | Production |
An example JSA you can adapt
A Job Safety Analysis (JSA), also called a JSEA or a Safe Work Method Statement, breaks a job into steps, names the hazards in each step, and sets the controls before anyone starts. Here is a fatigue-aware example for an event bump-in and bump-out. Treat it as a starting point to adapt to your own site, gear and crew, not a substitute for your own assessment.
| Job step | Key hazards | Controls |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-shift brief and fitness check | Fatigued or unfit worker, unclear roles | Fatigue and fitness self-check; state stop-work authority; confirm high-risk-work licences; name the crew chief. |
| Load-in and case handling | Manual handling, crush injuries, slips and trips | Team lifts and trolleys; clear, lit paths; gloves and safety footwear; no shortcuts under time pressure. |
| Rigging and work at height | Falls, dropped loads, structural overload | Licensed rigger and dogger; inspected and rated gear; exclusion zone under suspended loads; two-person load-point sign-off; fall protection. |
| Focus, soundcheck and show | Electrical, fatigue creep, trip hazards | Schedule high-risk tasks early; RCD-protected, tagged-and-tested power; cable management; rostered breaks. |
| Overnight bump-out and derig | Peak fatigue, falls, dropped loads | Fresh crew or split shift for the late derig; keep the two-person checks; maintain task lighting; controlled rest; never leave the riskiest task for last. |
| Pack and truck load-out | Manual handling, vehicle movement | Team lifts; hi-vis; a spotter for reversing vehicles; loads secured to restraint requirements. |
| Travel home | Fatigue-impaired driving | Plan the commute as part of the job; lifts, shared cabs or an overnight stay; rest before driving; no solo long drives after a long call. |
Build your real JSA with the people doing the work, review it at the pre-shift brief, and update it if the job or the crew changes.
Frequently asked questions
Is "tired equals drunk" really accurate, or just a slogan?
Accurate. It comes from peer-reviewed research measuring performance, not a slogan. Around 17 hours awake matches a 0.05 reading (Dawson & Reid, 1997).
Can people just power through with coffee?
No. Caffeine masks the dip briefly and then it returns, often worse. It does not restore judgement or reaction time the way sleep does.
We are a small operation. Is a second bump-out crew expensive?
Cheaper than one fall, one dropped load, or one fatigue-related crash on the way home. The maths only looks bad until something goes wrong.
Who is legally responsible if a tired crew member is hurt?
Under WHS duty of care the business carries the primary responsibility to manage foreseeable hazards, and fatigue is foreseeable on event sites. Controls are expected up front.
How do I get nervous casuals to speak up?
Say it explicitly at the brief, thank people who raise things even when they turn out fine, and never punish a stop-work call. Culture is set in the first five minutes of the shift.
What is the single highest-value fix?
Schedule the riskiest work for early in the shift and put a fresh crew on the late bump-out. That removes the most dangerous overlap of fatigue and risk.
How Enchant Entertainment can help
Sound and rigging on the night are won in the planning, not in the adrenaline. We plan shows so the crew that hangs your rig is sharp when it matters, with realistic call times, independent rigging checks, properly supervised crew, and a bump-out that does not depend on exhausted people doing life-safety work at 2am. If you are a venue or promoter, talk to us early and we will build a production schedule that protects your people and your event. Need the gear too? See our staging and rigging hire.
References
- Cadena, R. (2025). Stagehand 101: Deprived and dangerous [Substack newsletter post]. https://richardcadena.substack.com/p/stagehand-101-deprived-and-dangerous
- Dawson, D., & Reid, K. (1997). Fatigue, alcohol and performance impairment. Nature, 388(6639), 235. https://doi.org/10.1038/40775
- Safe Work Australia. (2013). Guide for managing the risk of fatigue at work. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/doc/guide-managing-risk-fatigue-work
- Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA). https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au
- Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 (WA). https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au
This article is general safety information, not legal advice. Confirm your obligations against the current WHS Act and Regulations or with a qualified adviser.