Not getting the correct amount of sleep can leave staff performing in much the same way as they would if they had had too much to drink. Susan Calnan reports.
In today's "round-the-clock" culture, where more and more people are forced to work longer and more irregular hours, workplace fatigue is increasingly being identified as a major occupational health and safety risk factor.
A growing body of research shows, for example, that tired employees are less alert, less capable of making responsible judgments and are more likely to cause accidents, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
In the UK, a group, aptly known as Awake, has been set up to address the growing problem of tiredness-related risk in the workplace.
Established three years ago, Awake is affiliated to the UK's leading centre for research into sleep - the Loughborough Sleep Research Centre - and its primary aim is to promote awareness of workplace fatigue and to translate research carried out at the centre and around the world, into practical solutions for companies and organisations throughout Europe and the world.
"A large part of our work is about raising awareness, not just in relation to the dangers of tiredness in the workplace, but also about the importance of sleep," says the managing director of Awake, Dr Paul Jackson.
"People really don't value enough the importance of quality sleep and in general they are making less time available for sleep. Also, many companies are putting pressure on employees to work longer and more irregular hours and a lot of managers don't seem to appreciate just how important proper rest and sleep really is," he adds.
According to Dr Jackson, sleep loss has many wide-ranging effects for alertness and performance: it slows reaction times and impairs our memory, co-ordination, judgment and problem-solving capacity.
A simple way of appreciating the effects of tiredness, he says, is to liken them to the effects of alcohol.
Research has shown, for example, that when we are tired, our performance is remarkably similar to being drunk and that the level of impairment experienced after 24 hours of sleep loss is similar to that associated with a blood alcohol concentration of 80mg per 100ml, the legal limit for drivers in Ireland.
On a wider scale, Dr Jackson points out, fatigue-related errors in judgment are thought to have contributed to some of the worst industrial accidents in the past 30 years, including nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster and the first Challenger Space Shuttle explosion.
"Workplace fatigue is a worldwide problem and companies need to start putting more resources into setting up a proper fatigue management system," Dr Jackson insists.
"There's no point in spending a fortune on health and safety in the workplace, if your employees are too tired on the job."
Although tiredness-related risk is an issue for all employees, a core focus for Awake has been to try to raise awareness in relation to the dangers of tiredness, among one of its most high-risk categories of workers - people who drive for a living.
Since its inception, the Awake campaign has focused on raising awareness about the problem of driver tiredness and has worked closely with a range of organisations on this issue, including the government and police in the UK, as well as companies in the oil, pharmaceutical, motor, transport and retail industries.
To highlight the extent of the problem of driver tiredness, Awake cites a number of worrying statistics: one in five accidents on UK roads, for example, is now attributed to driver sleepiness and, according to Awake, sleepy drivers kill more people on the roads than drink drivers.
"We estimate that about 4,000 people a year die from sleep-related road accidents in Europe," says Dr Jackson.
"Groups that are particularly at risk from driver sleepiness include lorry drivers, company car drivers, night workers and people driving home after working a night shift, in the early morning," he adds.
"Men, in particular those aged 18 to 24 and those over 50 years, are also at higher risk, because younger men often have a problem admitting they are feeling tired, while older men are more susceptible to falling asleep in the afternoon, due to changes in body rhythms."
To date, a large part of Awake's work has involved going into companies that employ drivers and holding two-day workshops to raise awareness about the problem of driver tiredness, as well as providing driver trainers with practical solutions to help their drivers combat tiredness.
Earlier this year, for example, Awake held its first Irish workshop on driver tiredness when it met driver trainers, health and safety managers, contract managers and transport managers from Irish Shell and its haulage contractors.
Speaking about the benefits of the workshop, Daithí Joyce of Irish Shell says that training is a great eye-opener for management and contractors.
"The biggest surprise for some of the attendees was just how potentially fatal an issue employee fatigue really is," says Joyce.
"The workshop also helped debunk some of the popular myths about how to combat tiredness on the road, as well as providing some practical tools for drivers on how to manage fatigue."
In addition to its ongoing awareness campaigns about driver tiredness, Awake has been targeting a second high risk group in relation to the workplace fatigue issue - people who do shiftwork.
Increasing research into the consequences of shiftwork has shown that shiftwork can severely reduce sleep quality and quantity.
Although the amount of sleep lost depends on the shift schedule being worked, it is generally greatest when working at night or starting work in the early morning.
"One of the reasons that shiftwork reduces sleep quality is because it schedules sleep for the daytime when our body is programmed for wakefulness," says Dr Jackson.
"Also, because there is a mismatch between the daily schedules of the worker and their family and friends, shiftworkers often forgo sleep, to spend more time with their family, or to attend to daily duties."
Studies show that the long-term effects of sleep loss for shiftworkers can be detrimental to their health: a recent report demonstrated, for example, that compared with people working standard hours, shiftworkers suffer a 40 per cent increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
It has also been estimated that shiftworkers are more than twice as likely to suffer from peptic ulcers as day workers and that shiftworkers experience a higher incidence of digestive difficulties.
One approach that Awake has been taking, to try to combat this problem is carrying out comprehensive risk-assessments of how well companies are managing their shift schedules and the issue of employee fatigue.
"One of the most useful aspects of a risk assessment is the identification of 'flashpoints' during a shift schedule - times when tiredness is at safety critical levels," says Dr Jackson.
"As a result of the assessment, informed decisions about what types of change - schedule, organisational or environmental - can be made to promote alertness at work and improve shiftworker well-being."
Awake's work in this area has proved particularly useful for people who work in the emergency services, where traditionally a high degree of work-related tiredness has been thought of as unavoidable and almost indicative of a committed and productive worker.
In the near future, the organisation has plans to work more closely with other organisations in the emergency services, including the fire service and ambulance service, and to translate ongoing research carried out at the Loughborough Sleep Research Centre into practical solutions for companies.
Although based in the UK, the group ultimately sees itself as an international organisation and since it was first established it has worked with organisations throughout the world,including the Far East, South America and, recently, parts of Africa.
"Tiredness is a universal issue because it's something that everybody suffers from," says Dr Jackson.
"Although we have witnessed a slight cultural shift in the way in which government and industry are approaching the workplace tiredness issue, as a society we need to appreciate that tiredness at work is a serious health and safety risk that must be addressed," he adds.
"Part of the problem lies in trying to get people to alter the 'work hard, play hard' mentality that pervades the modern work culture and to help people realise just how important quality sleep really is.
"At Awake our motto is: the day you have tomorrow depends on the sleep you have tonight."
Top Sleep Tips
1. Avoid stimulants, such as tea, coffee and cigarettes in the evening. Too much food before bed-time will also disrupt your natural sleep patterns.
2. Alcohol may help you fall asleep initially but it will disturb your sleep later on in the night.
3. Ensure your bedroom is a restful place for sleep - it should be cool, dark and quiet. Remove things that will keep you awake, such as the TV and radio.
4. Try to get to bed the same time every night - even at the weekends.
5. Try to relax before going to bed - have a warm bath, listen to music or do some relaxation techniques.
6. Don't lie in bed worrying about getting sleep. If you can't drop off in a short while, get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy again.
7. Deal with worries by making a list of what needs to be done the next day.
8. Get up at the same time each morning, irrespective of whatever time you fall asleep that night. A constant rising time helps to reset the body's own natural clock, regulating sleep and wakefulness.
9. Avoid exercising too close to bedtime or you may find it difficult to sleep.
10. If you are feeling drowsy while driving, take a break and have a short nap. However, avoid napping for longer than 15-20 minutes, as it will only make you feel more groggy, as well as interrupt your regular sleep patterns.