Can the Lack of Sleep be a Workplace Issue?

It certainly can be, and it is. “Nearly three in 10 workers have become very sleepy, or even fallen asleep, at work in the past month,” according to a study on sleep and the workplace conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Nilesh Dave, medical director of the Sleep and Breathing Disorders Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, stated, “It’s a very expensive issue for employers, and it can be fatal, too.” For example, 36 percent of respondents to the survey conducted by NSF said that they have nodded off or fallen asleep while driving. The survey also found that 12 percent of respondents have arrived late to work in the past month because of sleepiness, and other symptoms manifested themselves as impatience with others, difficulty concentrating on job tasks, and lower productivity. These negative effects not only frustrate an employer expecting a certain level of productivity from their employees but also serve to diminish feelings of accomplishment and self-worth in workers. This, in turn, leads to lower motivation, which completes the cycle of high costs to employers. The NSF reports that several factors are driving the trend toward sleepier employees:

“Employees are putting in longer hours, in part due to increased pressure from employers to ramp up productivity. The study found that one-fourth of respondents have a workday that lasts between eight and nine hours, and another fourth say they work up to 10 hours a day.”

The study cited above did not specifically address the issue of workplace injuries. However, the lack of alertness is clearly a factor, and administrators planning safety and wellness programs for their employees would do well to consider these findings for their counseling. A copy of the original article can be found here.