Factors Related To Work Fatigue: Literature Review

Widya Permatasari*, Azizah Musliha Fitri, Cahya Arbitera,

Afif Amir Amrullah
Departement of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences,
Jakarta Veterans National Development University
Campus 1 Jl. RS. Fatmawati Pondok Labu, South Jakarta,
Campus II Jl. Raya Limo Depok Indonesia Tel. (021) 7656971 Ext, 164-207, Fax 7656904 Ps 230
*Corresponding author, E-mail: widyapermatasari1101@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Background: Fatigue is one of the problems in the field of Occupational Safety and Health (K3) that
able to cause occupational accidents. Work fatigue is a complex problem related to decreased work
skills, work enthusiasm, and work productivity. According to BPJS Ketenagakerjaan in 2019
reagarding workplace acids, the tired worker is at more serious risk experience work accidents, 16%
reported at least experience a work accident due to fatigue.The purpose of this study is to analyze the
factors related to work fatigue and to analyze the factors that are most influential to work fatigue.
Methods: The method used in this study is literature review. Result: The results of scientific articles
showed that there were 25 studies used in 2010 until 2020. Most of the research designs used cross
sectional. There are 12 factors related to the occurrence of work fatigue including age, nutritional
status, gender, working period, noise, working climate, lighting, workload, length of work, rest time,
work shift and work stress. Conclusion: The workload is the most influential factor with the
occurrence of work fatigue.
Keywords: Work Fatigue, Factors, Determinants

1. INTRODUCTION
Fatigue is one of the problems in the field of Fatigue in addition to causing work accidents, it can
Occupational Safety and Health (K3) because it can also cause discomfort at work, disruption of work,
lead to work accidents. Fatigue is a condition where reduced satisfaction, and decreased productivity.
work efficiency and a person's resilience at work will Fatigue itself is caused by several factors. Fatigue can
decrease [1]. According to ILO data (2013) in Atiqoh be influenced by 2 factors, namely worker factors
(2014) said that there were about 2 million workers (such as: age, gender, health status of a person,
who died due to work accidents at work due to fatigue. nutritional status) and factors outside of workers (such
From 58,115 samples, 18,828 samples suffered from as: workload, length of work, physical environmental
fatigue. In the United States, based on research results conditions) [6].
say 24% of all workers who go to a doctor experience
fatigue. The results of this research are almost in line 2. METHOD
with a community survey in the UK which states that
as many as 25% of women and 20% of men also moan This research is a research using literature study
that they always feel tired [3]. method or literature review. This research was
In Indonesia, according to data from the Indonesian conducted from February to June 2020.The data
National Police for 2012 in Mariaman Tjunjuk source of this research is in the form of national and
(2018)stated that on average, 847 work accidents international scientific journals/theses obtained
occurred every day and 36% were due to high fatigue. through google scholar with certain keywords.
Based on data from the Social Security Administration
(BPJS) for Employment, the number of work
accidents in Indonesia tends to increase every year.
Tired workers have a high risk of experiencing work
accidents, 16% of workers reported experiencing at
least one work accident due to fatigue. In 2017,
123,041 cases of work accidents were reported, while
173,105 cases were reported in 2018 with a value of
compensation paid around IDR 1.2 trillion [5].

1
 "related work fatigue", and "determinants of work
Google Scholar fatigue". There were 2,199,930 search results in the
2.199.930 hasil period 2010-2020. Thus, 23 scientific journals/theses
pencarian. were used for literature review in this study consisting
1.965.000 tidak of 14 national scientific journals/thesis and 9
memenuhi international scientific journals/theses.
kriteria judul
3. RESULTS
234.930 terpilih
berdasarkan Based on the results of the analysis in Table 1., it is
judul 234.907 tidak known that the journals/theses used in this study are
digunakan 25 which consist of 14 national journals/theses from
Indonesia and 9 international journals/theses from
karena abstrak Brazil, China, Korea, Seoul/South Korea. , Finland,
tidak terfokus Brunei Darussalam, and Indonesia. The journals/theses
dengan faktor used in this research are in the period 2010-2020 or
kelelahan kerja about the last 10 years. The number of journals/theses
23 terpilih dan
in 2019 was the highest used, namely 6 studies.
digunakan It can also be seen in Table 1. that there were 20
berdasarkan studies using cross sectional design, 1 study using
judul dan correlation study design, and 2 studies using survey
abstrak data design. So it can be concluded that the research
design that is generally used is cross sectional. The
variables used based on the total journals/theses
Figure 1. Journal Search Flow themselves ranged from 2 to 17 variables studied.
Based on the search flow journal with keywords
"Work fatigue", "work fatigue", "factors that cause
work fatigue", "factors affecting work fatigue",

Table 1. Research characteristics

No. Researcher Name Country Year Research design ∑the variables

studied
1. Moch Noval Mauludi Indonesia 2010 Cross sectional 8
2. Januar Atiqoh, Ida Indonesia 2014 Cross sectional 5
Wahyuni and Daru
Lestantyo
3. Valeria Aparecida Brazil 2015 Cross sectional 17
Masson, Maria Ines
Monteiro, and Tatiana
Giovanelli Vedovato
4. Umiyati Indonesia 2010 Cross sectional 6
5. Nadi Rispiandi Hauteas, Indonesia 2019 Cross sectional 5
Luh Putu Ruliati, Soni
Doke
6. Changmin Tang, Chaojie China 2019 Cross sectional 9
Liu, Pengqian Fang,
Yuanxi Xiang, and Rui
Min
7. Mariani Juliana, Anita Indonesia 2018 Cross sectional 7
Camelia, Anita
Rahmiwati
8. Tae Hyun Cha, Tae Korea 2013 Correlation Study 9
Hyung Yoon, and Hee
Soon Woo
9. Elly Trisnawati Indonesia 2012 Cross sectional 2
10. Wulan Rilam Sari Indonesia 2019 Cross sectional 4
11. Kihye Han, Alison M. Seoul, South 2014 Survey Data 10
Trinkoff, Jeanne Geiger Korea

2
No. Researcher Name Country Year Research design ∑the variables
studied
Brown
12. Luh Putu Ruliati, Febri Indonesia 2020 Cross sectional 3
Mahalinda Maisal,
Marylin Susanti Junias,
and Luh Erlanggita NS
13. Paulina and Salbiah Indonesia 2016 Cross sectional 5
14. Mikko Harma, Kati Finland 2018 Survey Data 2
Karhula, Annina
Ropponen, Sampsa
Puttonen, etc.
15. Sulistya Virgy Indonesia 2011 Cross sectional 7
16. Anjar Permatasari B, Indonesia 2017 Cross sectional 4
Farit Rezal, Sabril
Munandar
17. Hanif Abdul Rahman, Brunei 2016 Cross sectional 17
Khadizah Abdul-Mumin, Darussalam
and Lin Naing
18. Lilis Sulistioningsih Indonesia 2013 Cross sectional 4
19. Erny Elviany Sabaruddin Indonesia 2019 Cross sectional 5
and Zahroh Abdillah
20. Gracella, Awaluddin, Indonesia 2019 Cross sectional 4
Andi Wahyuni
21. Fakhrurradhi Luthfi, Indonesia 2020 Cross sectional 4
Muchti Y P, Fitriani P G
22. Shintia Yunita Arini and Indonesia 2015 Cross sectional 5
Endang Dwiyanti
23. Putri Yanti, Andi Indonesia 2019 Cross sectional 3
Wahyuni, Awaluddin
Based on the results of the analysis in table 2. It can be
seen that the factors associated with the occurrence of
work fatigue include age, nutritional status, gender,
working period, noise, work climate, lighting,
workload, work time, rest time, work shift and work
stress. It can also be seen in Table 3. that the factor
that most influences the occurrence of work fatigue is
workload. Excessive workload will increase the risk of
fatigue in a person. When viewed from the data
analysis in table 3. above, of the 23 research journals
analyzed by researchers, 7 of them explained that
workload was related to the occurrence of work
fatigue.

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 Table 2. Factors Associated with Work Fatigue

No. Researcher Factors Associated with Work Fatigue

Name Age Nutritional Gender Work Noise Work Lighting Workload Length Time off Shift Stress
status Period Climate of Work Work
working
1. M Noval Mauludi
[7]  
2. Januar A, Ida W
and Daru L. [2]   
3. Valeria AM,
Maria IM, and
Tatiana 
GV(Valeria
Aparecida et al
2015)
4. Umiyati [9]  

5. Nadi RH, Luh

PR, Soni Doke
(Nadi Rispiandi  
Hauteas et al
2019)
6. Changmin T,
Chaojie L,
Pengqian F,
Yuanxi X, and  
Rui M (Changmin
Tang et al. 2019)
7. Mariani J, Anita
Carmelia, Anita R
(Mariani Juliana   
et al 2018)
8. Tae Hyun Cha,
Tae Hyung Yoon,
and Hee Soon  
Woo (Tae Hyun
Cha et al 2013)

4
No. Researcher Factors Associated with Work Fatigue
Name Age Nutritional Gender Work Noise Work Lighting Workload Length Time off Shift Stress
status Period Climate of Work Work
working
9. Elly Trisnawati
[14] 

10. Wulan Rilam Sari  

[15]
11. Kihye Han, 
Alison M.
Trinkoff, Jeanne
Geiger Brown
(Kihye Han et al
2014)
12. Luh Putu Ruliati,  
Febri Mahalinda
Maisal, Marylin
Susanti Junias,
and Luh
Erlanggita Narta
Santi [17]
13. Paulina and
Salbiah [18]     
14. Mikko H, Kati K, 
Annina R,
Sampsa P, Aki K,
Anelli O, etc.
(Mikko Harma,
Kati Karhula, et al
2018)
15. Sulistya Virgy  
[20]
16. Anjar PB, Farit
Rezal, Sabril
Munandar [21]  
17. Hanif Abdul R, 
Khadizah Abdul

5
No. Researcher Factors Associated with Work Fatigue
Name Age Nutritional Gender Work Noise Work Lighting Workload Length Time off Shift Stress
status Period Climate of Work Work
working
M, and Lin Naing
[22]
18. Lilis
Sulistioningsih   
[23]
19. Erny Elviany
Sabaruddin and  
Zahroh Abdillah
[24]
20. Gracella,  
Awaluddin, Andi
W. [25]
21. Fakhrurradhi L,
Muchti YP,
Fitriani PG [26]
   
22. Shintia YA and
Endang Dwiyanti   
[27]
23. Putri Y, Andi W,  
Awaluddin [28]
Total 6 4 4 6 3 5 2 7 4 2 4 3

6
4. DISCUSSION
If seen through table 3.There are many factors that
influence the occurrence of work fatigue, including the
following :
1. Age
Age is one factor that has a relationship with work
fatigue. Every worker has different abilities from other
workers every time they do work, this depends on the
age of the worker [9]. Worker fatigue tends to be
experienced by workers who are over 40 years old,
this is because workers who have entered the age of 40
years will experience a process of degeneration or a
decrease in the function of their organs so that workers
will feel fatigue due to a decrease in the ability of their
organs [2].
2. Nutritional status
Productivity and work efficiency have a very close
relationship with nutritional status. When working, a
worker really needs the energy in his body, if the
worker lacks energy in his body, his work capacity
will be disturbed. If the nutritional status of the worker
is lacking, the fatigue level will be even higher [18].
Lack or excess of nutrition in a worker is a very
important problem, because in addition to affecting
work productivity it also affects the risk of disease
[21].
3. Gender
Workers who are male sex experience the most fatigue
compared to workers who are female sex [20]. The
habit of men staying up late at night is one of the
factors that support fatigue can occur [27].
Meanwhile, according to Sari (2019) have a different
opinion where the level of fatigue experienced by
female workers is much greater than the level of
fatigue that occurs in male workers, this is because
women experience menstrual cycles every month so
that it will affect the decline in their body and mental
condition.
4. Work Period
The working period is closely related to the ability of
workers to adapt to their work and environment. The
length of the work period greatly influences the work
done in a monotonous manner so that it will affect the
condition of the workers' muscles who only work
statically [2]. Workers who have worked for a long
time will affect the mechanisms of the organ systems
in the body such as the circulatory system, muscles,
nerves, and respiration. Therefore, this can make it
easier for workers to experience work fatigue on
themselves [9].
5. Noise
Each worker has different sensitivity to surrounding
noise, especially in the area of the workplace
environment, the presence of noise in this workplace
can make workers uncomfortable when doing their
work [7]. Noise comes from the sound of vehicles
passing through the area around the workplace and
from activities that workers carry out while they are
working [27]. Noise can also come from the machines
used for the production process and the tools used by
workers when working [18].
6. Work Climate
The temperature in a person's body can increase and
decrease followed by temperature adjustments outside
the body or because they are doing activities. Because
the body temperature that is in a person alone can
increase drastically due to the very high ambient
temperature. The sweat glands will be stimulated to
always sweat because the body is exposed to high
environmental temperatures, and if this condition lasts
very long it will make workers feel tired and
experience a decrease in muscle contraction in their
bodies [12].
7. Lighting
Lighting in an unsuitable space can cause many
workers to experience work fatigue. Besides being
able to trigger fatigue in workers, inadequate lighting
can also cause workers to experience eye pain due to
the soreness that is felt around the eyes, a feeling of
discomfort from working with less light, and cause
pain in the head of the worker [24].
8. Workload
A burden can be received by the body that comes from
any type of work done. The large number of jobs
obtained is one of the workloads that can be accepted
by workers. Work fatigue can be influenced by a
heavy workload, this will quickly happen if it is
supported by a workplace with minimal light intensity
so that workers often complain of tiredness in their
eyes so that the workload felt by workers will increase
and further affect the fatigue that occurs [2].
Workload has a significant relationship with work
fatigue. This is because workers feel they have a
heavy workload and are being pursued by targets and
time to complete. With these demands, some workers
feel unable to catch up with targets and the
responsibility given is very heavy, so that it makes
workers feel less psychologically when doing work.
The psychological decline experienced by workers
makes fatigue occur and results in decreased
motivation and productivity in the workplace [17].
9. Length of working
Generally, workers need 8 hours a day to work, but if
the workers work more than 8 hours a day, it will
make workers feel bored because they spend too much
time working. This feeling of boredom occurs because
there is no variation in work where workers always do
work in a monotonous and repetitive manner, this is
what makes the physical abilities of the workers
decrease so that it has an impact on work fatigue [10].
Improper working hours such as additional working
hours or overtime for workers greatly affect the work
ability of the worker so that it can trigger fatigue, and
if this happens continuously it can cause chronic
fatigue [23].
10. Time off
7
Workers who can take advantage of their rest time
while working have few symptoms of fatigue, but in
contrast to workers who do not take their rest time
while working, they will easily experience fatigue
while working. Therefore, workers need to rest at least
once an hour while doing work that requires a long
period of time, this is aimed at minimizing the fatigue
that will be felt in workers [13].
11. Shift Work
The level of work fatigue in workers who work at
night will be much greater when compared to workers
who work in the morning, this is because night
workers have very less time to sleep than the time they
should sleep, and night workers are required to work
at times that workers should use to rest [7].
In addition, it is due to the weather at night and the
night wind which supports the feeling of tiredness and
sleepiness that is felt. This environmental condition
that makes human instincts move to rest, and usually
workers will prefer to sleep rather than eat during their
resting hours [12].
12. Stress Work
Stress work can be marked when a worker feels an
irregularity that is happening to him, such as a racing
heart, cold sweat, pale face, tense neck, fast pulse [29].
A worker can experience fatigue due to stress factors
that arise when doing work. Workers who work in
stressful situations in the workplace can have an effect
on reducing work ability. The decrease in work ability
is directly related to the health condition of the
individual so that the individual is easy to feel fatigue
while working [8].
5. CONCLUSION
Based on the results of research conducted with a
literature review, the following conclusions can be
drawn :
a. There are many factors related to the occurrence of
work fatigue based on the 20 journals analyzed
including factors such as age, nutritional status,
gender, work period, noise, work climate, lighting,
workload, length of work, rest time, work shift, and
work stress.
b. Based on the results of the analysis of 20 journals /
theses, it shows that workload is one of the factors that
most influences the occurrence of work fatigue.
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