Mental Health and Fatigue as Human Performance Risks: Evidence from 150.000+ Offshore Emotional Check-Ins in Brazil

Abstract

High-reliability offshore environments depend on sustained cognitive performance to ensure safe task execution; however, confinement, extended shifts, and operational pressure heighten psychosocial risks that degrade human reliability. This paper analyzes the implementation of a large-scale proactive protocol for monitoring mental health and fatigue in offshore operations in Brazil, comprising over 150.000 emotional check-ins. The scope includes its integration into the safety management system, its interface with operational decision-making, and its impact on predicting human performance degradation before it manifests as unsafe acts or process deviations. Initiated in 2021, the protocol combines three layers of continuous and dynamic monitoring: Electronic Monitoring: An automated electronic assessment conducted at the beginning of the second half of the offshore hitch, consisting of five questions regarding embarkation stressors, sleep quality, focus and concentration, mood, and self-assessment of fatigue levels. If no vulnerability is detected, the process concludes at this stage. Otherwise, individualized support is triggered to provide assistance and understand the context of fatigue and exhaustion. Beyond data logging, this phase serves as a self-reflection tool, assisting workers in evaluating their fitness for duty and recognizing potential signs and symptoms of fatigue.Remote Individual Support: When data indicate vulnerability, workers are contacted by specialized psychologists who conduct an assessment to determine the nature and severity of the fatigue. If the fatigue is moderate (Cautionary Signal), remote monitoring is maintained throughout the offshore period. If signs of exhaustion (Critical Symptoms) are detected, the subsequent stage is initiated.Organizational Alerts: This stage is triggered only in critical cases, at which point the health department is notified, integrating the case into the risk management system or the decision-making process, depending on severity. The process is aligned with ISO 45003 and the updated version of NR-01 (Brazilian regulatory standard) regarding psychosocial risk control, enabling the systematic identification, classification, escalation, and monitoring of risks to human performance. Data were stratified by operational segment, providing insights into patterns and high-exposure groups to inform strategic organizational care actions. The analysis of over 150.000 check-ins revealed that the Drilling segment exhibits the highest prevalence of fatigue and emotional vulnerability. Continuous monitoring increased the organizational capacity for the early detection of emotional vulnerability symptoms, allowing for preventive interventions at both individual and collective levels. The protocol provides an evidence-based approach to integrating psychosocial risk data into core operational safety processes, utilizing mental health and fatigue data as predictive indicators of operational risk. With over 150.000 check-ins, this dataset offers visibility into emotional patterns across different industry segments (Drilling, PLSV, FPSO, and Logistics) and demonstrates how structured, continuous psychosocial monitoring should be viewed as a strategic action allied with safety and performance in high-risk environments.