Fatigue, Sleep, Skin Temperature, and Mood

In early 2023, Norfolk Southern Railway experienced a disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio which released large quantities of the toxic chemicals being transported and resulted in a widespread environmental crisis. Government and industry officials investigating the cause of the derailment suspect workplace fatigue among the managerial members of the train company to be one of the leading contributing factors to the disaster. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between psychophysiological measures, including skin temperature and heart rate, and objective and subjective fatigue measures such as mood, sleep quality/quantity, and psychomotor vigilance task performance (PVT). Over the course of 24 hours, every four hours participants complete several questionnaires about fatigue, sleep, mood, and their activity as well as a three-minute PVT. Participants receive research equipment including an iPad, to be used to complete the online survey and PVT test, as well as the Amazfit GTR 2e smartwatch, to be used to monitor skin temperature and heart rate. We predict increased skin temperature, will be associated with increased negative affect, increases subjective sleepiness, decreased PVT performance, heart rate changes, and decreased sleep quality/quantity. Data collection is ongoing, and analyses will be completed prior to presentation.