Is Napping on the Job Sound Safety Strategy?
Fatigue has been implicated in hundreds of thousands of traffic accidents and in some of the most famous workplace disasters, including the Exxon Valdez spill and the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger. It’s a well documented workplace hazard that appears easy to fix – ask workers to get more sleep – yet it continues. Why? Let’s take a look at the hazards associated with chronic sleep deprivation and a simple way for employers to address the problem. The Yawning Workforce It takes seven to nine hours to restore, rejuvenate and energize the body and brain. But a Sleep in America poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation in 2008 found that people are sleeping an average of six hours and 40 minutes a night. Nearly half of U.S. employees (49%) admitted that sleepiness interferes with their performance at work. Many report being chronically sleep-deprived, a condition that occurs gradually over weeks, months or years and creates long-lasting changes in a worker’s ability to t
