What is Worker Fatigue?

• May be caused by one of many sleep disorders. A sleep disorder is any medical condition that prevents one from obtaining adequate or restorative sleep. Some of the more common sleep disorders include sleep apnea, snoring, restless legs syndrome and insomnia.37

How Common Is It?

Fatigue is an exceedingly common problem among the American workforce and population in general. It is estimated that 70 million men, women, and children in the United States suffer from a sleep disorder annually.36 Most of these individuals live their lives thinking that poor sleep is a normal part of aging or that poor sleep runs in the family. Consequently, most do not seek medical care. Consider these facts: In 1999, the National Sleep Foundation found that during the prior year,

• 62% of adult Americans had a sleep disorder, but only 4 % of those sought help    from a physician.

• 34% of adults report snoring, which dangerously fragments sleep, a few nights    per week.

• 40% of adults are so sleepy during the day that it interferes with their daily    activities, including work.

• 18% experience this significant level of sleepiness at least a few days a week or    more.

Why is fatigue so prevalent among our workers?

Two main reasons: a lack of sleep and poor quality of sleep. These two aspects merge particularly harshly on our shift workers. It is well known that shift workers average about 5 – 6 hours of sleep per night because they must sleep out of sync with the body’s natural rhythm.29 Also, since they sleep during the day, there are many environmental distractions. But shift work is a fact of life. Since the amount of sleep time is reduced, it is critical that the quality of their sleep be excellent. If, because of one of the common sleep disorders, that individual also has poor quality sleep, they are going to suffer with fatigue. Sleepy workers can put us all at risk. Whether we are driving next to them on the freeway or putting our child in a safety seat that they helped manufacture, it is evident that worker fatigue can impact our lives and families gravely. But what about our workplace?

So, what does fatigue cost in your workplace:

• Higher worker’s compensation rates. Worker’s compensation costs at facilities   with severe fatigue problems amount to an average annual cost of $4,037 per   worker, which is almost 15 times higher than in facilities with no fatigue   problems41

• Higher absenteeism costs. For 12 months, this wasteful practice costs your   workplace $3,490 per night shift employee and $925 per day shift employee41

• Higher worker turnover. Since it costs on average about $25,550 to recruit and   train a new extended hours worker, any turnover is too much. 41

• Diminished productivity and increased work errors. Some of these errors can   have fatal consequences. Sleep deprived workers have been shown to have a   50% decrease in attention/vigilance and a 50% reduction in their decision making   abilities.31 Up to two-thirds of shift workers fall asleep on the job at least once a   week.45

• Increase in the number and severity of accidents. Employees with poor sleep are   twice as likely to have an accident as the rest of the population.6 And spend   twice as much time in the hospital when they do.21

• Increased near accidents. In a test of reaction times, people with disrupted sleep   performed as poorly as the legally drunk subjects.34,43

• Fatigued Workers also have higher incidences of significant chronic medical   conditions.

 • Diabetes, experienced by 81% of individuals with sleep disorders ^{37, 38}
       • Chronic sleep deprivation in otherwise healthy adults, ages 23-42, impairs the ability of insulin to do its job by 40%.⁴¹

• Hypertension, experienced by 79% of individuals with sleep disorders ^37,38

• Heart Disease, experienced by 78% of individuals with sleep disorders^37,38

• Depression, experienced by 83% of individuals with sleep disorders and severe   fatigue.^37,38

• Plus, poor sleep increases the chance of obesity, anxiety, and mood swings.⁴²