Experts Warn of a “Silent Epidemic” as Fatigue, Stress and Financial Strain Undermine Worker Safety

Industry leaders say rising fatigue, economic pressure and mental overload are eroding fitness for duty in high-hazard sectors — increasing human error, near misses and the risk of catastrophic incidents.

• By Stasia DeMarco
• Dec 04, 2025

In construction, oil and gas, aviation and other high-hazard sectors, a new threat is emerging—one that is far less visible than the fires, falls, leaks and explosions that dominate safety briefings. According to industry experts, worker fatigue, economic strain, and mental overload are fueling what some are calling a “silent epidemic”—a deepening crisis that is eroding fitness for duty and raising the risk of catastrophic incidents across the workforce.

During a recent industry conference, Susie Scott, Director of Safety and North America Practice Lead for Safety at Oliver Wyman Vector, spoke candidly about what she and her colleagues are witnessing across field operations. Her insights align closely with findings from The Ugly Truth report, explored in depth by Larry Pearlman, Vice President of Environmental Health, Safety, and Security at ADL.

Together, their perspectives paint a sobering picture: today’s workforce is struggling in ways that employers do not see—and largely do not measure. The consequences, they warn, can no longer be ignored.

Fatigue: The First Red Flag

Scott says fatigue is the earliest and clearest signal that a worker may not be fit for duty.
“The initial ones I’d be primarily looking for is fatigue,” she explained. “That could show up by being just sort of distracted, by lack of attention, lack of situational awareness, irritability, failure to concentrate—a whole range of attributes that could physically show up.”

Yet these cues are often missed because supervisors are increasingly tied up with administrative work rather than spending time in the field. “A lot of leaders aren’t spending as much time physically with their teams,” Scott said. “And so, you may not pick up on these things if you don’t know your team very well.”

Pearlman’s research supports this. Workers deemed “injury-prone” often aren’t careless—they’re overwhelmed. “We’re seeing a growing number of workers who are not fully fit for duty,” Pearlman said. “They may be tired, distracted or dealing with significant personal stressors, and that leads to human error.”

Catastrophic Consequences in High-Hazard Work

In industries like aviation, construction, oil and gas, fatigue isn’t just a wellness issue, it’s a potentially fatal one.

Scott has seen workers “literally fall asleep on the job,” especially while driving or operating equipment. But the more serious threat is to cognitive function.

“If it gets to the point where you’re so fatigued you’re making critical-thinking mistakes, that’s when it becomes extremely dangerous,” she said.

She offered examples:

• In aviation, a fatigued technician forgetting a step could create a safety-of-flight issue.
• In oil and gas, a single lapse could trigger an explosion or a gas leak.
• In construction, skipping lockout/tagout because of exhaustion could injure the next worker who touches the equipment.

“There are very significant system-wide implications of failure that go much broader than hurting yourself,” Scott noted.

Pearlman aligns: “Reduced alertness, more mistakes, increased mental health concerns—classic fitness-for-duty problems.”

These issues are already surfacing like slips, near misses, and procedural errors that wouldn’t happen if workers were rested and stable.

Economic Pressure: The Hidden Driver

One of the most striking themes in both discussions is the role of financial strain.

Pearlman describes workers in high-cost cities who simply cannot make ends meet on $15–$18 an hour. “Some juggle multiple jobs, take excessive overtime or even live out of their vehicles,” he said. “When workers are exhausted, undernourished, or stretched too thin, their safety performance naturally declines.”

Scott calls this reality part of the “silent epidemic.”

“This is why Larry and I coined the phrase,” she said. “All of this stuff is really happening behind closed doors. There is nobody really drawing people’s attention to the fact that we have people living out of their cars, trying to juggle three jobs, struggling to do that to the extent that we've got incredible levels of absenteeism and injury rates and sick time.”

What troubles her most is that these issues aren’t tracked or discussed. “It’s just not being measured and managed,” she said. “And it’s not on people’s radars.”

Pearlman agrees. “Many organizations assume certain employees are ‘injury-prone,’ but research shows these periods of higher risk often coincide with personal crises,” he said.

Psychological Safety Matters Too

Both Scott and Pearlman emphasized that psychological safety plays a critical role in physical safety outcomes.

Scott explained that today’s workforce is dealing with a combination of economic pressure, post-COVID social strain, and rapidly changing expectations, all of which affect mental well-being. “These challenges are impacting physical safety and psychological safety,” she said. “It’s no longer possible to separate the two.”

Pearlman ties this directly into the Total Worker Health model. “The ‘H’ in EHS—health—has been too quiet for too long,” he said. Supporting psychological recovery is essential: “The mind requires recovery just like the body.”

What Employers Can Do—Beyond Wages

When asked what the C-suite can realistically do to support workers, especially in low-margin industries, Scott emphasized that solutions go beyond pay.

“There’s no easy answer here,” she admitted. “In some environments, I can’t change the shift patterns, I can’t change pay rates because it would be detrimental to the whole business model.”

But leadership can still act. Pearlman gives examples:

• Reduce stigma around mental health
• Provide access to nutritious meals
• Offer financial wellness coaching
• Normalize the use of employee assistance programs
• Add on-site wellness or health staff
• Give workers more consistent shift schedules

“In my company, about 10% of our workforce uses EAP services—which is quite high,” he said. “Privacy and trust are key.”

Scott points to the importance of leadership presence. “You won’t see the early warning signs if you’re not out there with your team,” she said.

The C-Suite Must Connect the Dots

Corporate leaders, Pearlman argues, often misunderstand the issue. “Many leaders aren’t asking the deeper questions,” he said. “They may assume raising wages is the only solution and immediately dismiss the idea. But wages are only one piece.”

Support-focused programs often cost far less and can have a larger impact on worker readiness.

But the missing piece is data.

“We need to collect data and show leaders how wages, instability and personal stress correlate with incidents,” Pearlman said. “Once leaders understand the ‘why,’ they’re more open to exploring solutions.”

And for Scott, recognizing the problem is the first step in solving it.

“If your workforce is exhausted, distracted or struggling, you’re not just talking about minor issues—you’re talking about the potential for major incidents.”

A Call to Action

The evidence is clear: worker well-being is a foundational safety issue. Fatigue, financial stress, and psychological strain are not personal problems, they are operational risks with the potential for catastrophic consequences.

The “silent epidemic” will continue until organizations measure it, acknowledge it and respond.

A safer future, these experts say, depends on leaders seeing what has been hidden for too long.