Are employees too tired to work safely?
January 7, 2009 by Fred HosierPosted in: fatigue, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Research on safety
PDF A new study shows almost one in five workers admit they aren’t getting a good night’s sleep. However, only one in ten have been properly diagnosed with a sleep disorder.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) analyzed data from the Georgia Study of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, in which 6,530 randomly selected adults were interviewed. Sixteen percent of Georgia’s residents experience persistent problems staying awake during the day. However, only 10% of the people in the study reported having been diagnosed with a sleep disorder.
The study also found:
- 35% wake up in the morning feeling unrefreshed
- 31% can’t sleep through the night, and
- 25% complain they have problems falling asleep.
Study author, Michael Decker, notes people who don’t get enough sleep, or have poor quality sleep, present hazards in their jobs and on the roads.
His suggestion: Educate workers about the symptoms of sleep disorders and prompt them to seek appropriate medical care.
The CDC has a new Web site with information about sleep disorders. The study can be found online here.
SafetyNewsAlert.com delivers the latest Safety news once a week to the inboxes of over 270,000 Safety professionals.
Click here to sign up and start your FREE subscription to SafetyNewsAlert!
Tags: CDC, chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep, sleep disorders
Loading ...
January 12th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
What does sleep habits have to do with Control of Disease? CDC is going into areas it has no business.
May 28th, 2009 at 9:29 am
i am in management for a ambulance service. if we have an employee that complains to being tired or can’t make certain calls we send them home without pay. they don’t like it but we can not take the chance of them getting hurt, their partner, or the patient. we had a ambulance roll over due to driver falling asleep. the patient ended up dying later due to complications that may or may not have been caused by the accident but no way to prove it. we also have a ploicy that says they have to have at least 12 hours of off time before coming to work. no working part time jobs at least 12 hours before coming to work. medics are bad about working 24hr shifts at one job and then go straight to another. we do not allow this.
September 30th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Larry,
Poor sleep habits can be a symptom of underlying disease. Some of those diseases are potentially very serious. So the CDC does have a legitimate reason to discuss this issue.