Sleep Woes: Fatigue in the Workplace

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Lack of sleep is an epidemic in America, especially for working adults. More than 43 percent of U.S. workers are sleep deprived, with those most at risk working the night shift, long shifts, or irregular shifts. Occupational fatigue, or the inability to perform normal work tasks due to the constant feeling of tiredness, has far-reaching consequences for workers and workers’ compensation.

Adults need an average of seven to nine hours of sleep each night. However, 30 percent report averaging less than six hours. This may be due to personal sleep habits as well as sleep disorders such as sleep apnea or insomnia. In fact, one in three American adults describe their sleep as only “fair” or “poor.” Insufficient sleep leads to sleep debt (when you sleep fewer hours than your body needs), which can quickly lead to fatigue, which can result in slow reaction time, reduced attention, and impaired judgment.

In turn, fatigue in the workplace can lead to poor productivity at best, and injury or death at worst.

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