Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationship between digital platform workload, fatigue and mental health risks among online platform drivers in Indonesia. While gig economy platforms create flexible employment opportunities, they also impose algorithmic demands that may compromise both physical and psychological well-being. Design/methodology/approach A total of 100 online platform drivers were assessed using three complementary methods: the Modified Cooper Harper (MCH) scale to evaluate workload, the Industrial Fatigue Research Committee (IFRC) questionnaire to capture subjective fatigue and psychological symptoms and cardiovascular load (CVL) to measure objective physiological fatigue. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation tests and regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between workload, fatigue and mental health outcomes. Findings The results indicate that cash-on-delivery (COD) tasks generated the heaviest workload, with average scores categorized as overload. While most drivers reported low-to-moderate fatigue, 14% experienced high to very high fatigue. IFRC subscales revealed that 41% experienced motivational decline, 38% psychological strain and 44% anxiety symptoms. CVL data further confirmed that 38% of drivers operated under unsafe levels of cardiovascular strain. Statistical analyses showed that longer working hours and greater COD workload significantly predicted higher fatigue, and that fatigue was strongly associated with the emergence of mental health-related symptoms. Originality/value This study contributes to ergonomics and mental health literature by extending traditional fatigue assessment tools to the context of digital platform labor. It demonstrates that fatigue functions as a mediator between workload and psychological distress, offering new insights into the causal pathways linking algorithmic management to mental health outcomes. The study also provides practical implications for platforms and policymakers, emphasizing the potential of digital technologies to not only manage labor but also protect worker health through interventions such as app-based fatigue monitoring, workload balancing and digital counseling services.
Restuputri et al. (Tue,) studied this question.