Wake-Up Call: Toward an Industrial Hygiene Approach to Work-Related Fatigue

Details

• Personal Author:
  Wong I
• Description:
  Work-related fatigue has been estimated by the National Safety Council to cost employers approximately $151 billion annually in reduced productivity related to sleep deficiencies, sleep disorders, and shift work. However, this is just a fraction of the true cost, as chronic sleep deprivation and nonstandard work schedules have been linked with increased risk of depression, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other illnesses with ultimate effects on work productivity, worker health, and safety. Fatigue can slow reaction times, reduce attention or concentration, limit short-term memory, and impair judgment, increasing the risk for fatigue-related incidents such as work injuries. Work-related fatigue can also have a devastating public safety impact, particularly in occupations with high-risk consequences. For example, the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island and the grounding of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker are two major disasters in which human fatigue was cited as a contributing factor. On a more frequent scale, tired workers drive on public roads, raising public health and safety concerns. Specifically, drowsy driving increases the risk for motor vehicle crashes by 250 percent and results in $109 billion in societal costs every year due to fatalities and injuries from fatigue-related crashes (see publications from SLEEP and the Governors Highway Safety Association, listed under "Resources" below). Overnight, rotating, or irregular shifts; long work hours; and resulting sleep impairment or disruption often contribute to work-related fatigue. It has been estimated that almost 30 percent of U.S. workers are employed in schedules that are outside a "regular daytime shift" and 37 percent of workers get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep (see data from NIOSH Worker Health Charts and a consensus statement published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine in the "Resources" section). According to research published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, while just over 50 percent of night shift workers report not getting sufficient sleep, almost 33 percent of day shift workers also report obtaining less than seven hours of sleep per night-numbers that suggest this problem can affect any worker, regardless of work schedule. A survey of causes and consequences of employee fatigue published by the National Safety Council found that 43 percent of U.S. workers do not get enough sleep such that it affects their ability to perform critical tasks, which can affect not only their safety at work but also that of their coworkers. The same survey found that 90 percent of employers felt that work-related fatigue had negatively impacted their organizations in terms of reduced productivity and absenteeism. Half of surveyed employers reported they would adjust an employee's schedules or tasks to reduce the risk of fatigue-related, safety-critical events. However, more than 70 percent said that they typically issue a warning or disciplinary action, suggesting that workplace mitigation strategies for fatigue may more often involve reactive, punitive measures rather than prescriptive or preemptive organizational control strategies. Fatigue is pervasive and nondiscriminating, potentially affecting any worker at any job in any organization. However, despite its high prevalence and increased risk of severe and widespread adverse occupational health and safety consequences, fatigue is not treated with the same industrial hygiene approach as other workplace hazards. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Fatigue Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Shift Work Schedule Sleep Sleep Initiation And Maintenance Disorders
• Keywords:
  Industrial Hygiene Long Work Hours Mental Health Shift Work Sleep Deprivation Worker Health Work Schedules
• ISSN:
  1066-7660
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSI - Division of Science Integration
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  26-29
• Volume:
  32
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064145
• Citation:
  Synergist 2021 Dec; 32(11):26-29
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  The Synergist
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4922b67216d2eb9d62a13c3a79288dac4cf080f570c13f3d2012cb233dc302b81962c229cd49975ae7350152d0a8228d80a036a4fd5d576dbff24f8ddf5818eb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222653/cdc_222653_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 420.56 KB ]