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Attacking Fatigue in the Workplace

Guest post by: Bruce Oliver

Article Overview: A major workplace issue today is employee fatigue. Alertness in the workplace pays for itself through productivity, safety and quality. It doesn’t happen by accident. Managers can minimize fatigue by attacking it on seven fronts: (1) education, (2) start times, (3) shift length, (4) fixed vs. rotating shifts, (5) consecutive days of work, (6) employee preferences and (7) overtime.

Attacking Fatigue in the Workplace

The American workforce is at war with an enemy so subtle that many of us deny it even exists.

We use terms like Productivity, Quality and Safety to tell ourselves what we need to do to compete. We hang posters around the workplace and hold team meetings all in the name of continuous improvement.

All the while, we are dragging an anchor behind us; one that if we could be rid of, would result in across-the-board improvements in nearly every area we consider near and dear. That anchor is sleep deprivation.

To win this battle, one must plan. Know your enemy and be prepared to attack on several fronts.

Front #1: Education

We don't drive with our eyes closed because we are aware of the consequences. Yet, we allow ourselves to go about our daily lives with only five or six hours of sleep per night. We readily exchange sleep for other activities thinking there is little harm; oblivious to the true consequences of our actions.

Our research shows that most people think they only need seven hours of sleep per night (and are actually getting much less than that). The fact is they need eight. The result is a continual build-up of sleep debt as we get less sleep than we need night after night.

How would we behave if we knew that after two weeks of mild sleep deprivation, our cognitive abilities would approach those of someone who was legally drunk? Recent studies have suggested as much. Sleep deprivation is a decision. Make sure that your workforce has the information they need to make that decision a good one.

Front #2: Start Times

A study conducted by Shiftwork Solutions confirms an earlier study by NIOSH which suggests that start times affect sleep quantities. For example, people that start work at 7:00 a.m. sleep about twenty minutes more per night than those that start at 6:00 a.m. Teenagers have an internal clock that makes it difficult for them to be alert early in the morning, suggesting that learning would improve if schools started at 9:00 a.m. instead of 8:00 a.m.

Commute times also affect sleep. Time spent in the car driving to and from work is time taken away from other activities. For those "other" activities to take place, sleep is often the first thing sacrificed. Many companies flex their hours to allow commuters to minimize time spent in traffic.

Front #3: Shift Length

Intuitively, we would think that the longer our workday, the less sleep we get. To a certain extent, this is right. We have found that people working a 12-hour day get about 10 minutes less sleep per night than people working an 8-hour day.

But that is not a complete or accurate picture.

People like longer shifts because they get more days off. For an average 40-hour work week, a person working 10-hour shifts will get 52 more days off a year. A person working a 12-hour shift will get 87 more days off per year. Since people sleep more on their days off than they do on workdays, the people on the longer workdays will end up averaging more sleep than those on the 8-hour workdays.

Front #4: Consecutive Days of Work

The more days in a row you work, the farther you fall behind in your sleep. When you short yourself sleep, you create a sleep debt. This debt is cumulative, and more importantly, it is very subtle. People will not realize they are losing cognitive ability every day. With each passing night, they come to work less safe and less productive.

Shortening the number of days people work in a row will give them time off to catch up on their sleep and pay off some of that sleep debt. While the number of days needed to fully recover is uncertain, most researchers believe they need at least two days off in a row to have a recuperative impact.

Front #5: Rotating Shifts

Shiftwork operations, those that work more than just a single shift, have to make a decision between rotating and fixed shifts. Should people on days always stay on days or should they take their turn working the night or evening shift?

This is a complex issue unless we simplify it to one question, "What is best from an alertness point of view?"

Then the answer becomes simple. Fixed shifts win. There is a significant amount of research indicating higher health risks and lower overall alertness on rotating shifts compared to fixed shifts.

Front #6: Employee Preferences

People judge their work schedule not by when they have to come to work, but by when they can stay home. In short, they focus on their time off.

What people really want is a schedule that minimizes the conflicts between when they want to be off work and when they can be off work. There is rarely a perfect fit and you will never find a workforce where 100% of the people want the same thing. However, minimizing overall schedule conflicts should be your goal.

Why? When there is a conflict, people will still find a way to do what they want to do, often at the expense of sleep. Less conflict equals better sleep patterns which results in higher alertness and better performance.

There is no pattern that is "best" for every employee demographic. If you want to know what your workforce wants - ask them.

Front #7: Overtime

Overtime disrupts people's lives. They have plans that get changed at the last minute. Forfeiting sleep is one of the ways they will try to recover time-off lost to overtime. How much overtime is too much is a difficult question to answer. Most companies feel that an annual average between 5% and 15% is about right. However, there are a lot of considerations other than alertness that go into finding the perfect amount for any operation.

Conclusions

Alertness in the workplace pays for itself through productivity, safety and quality. It doesn't happen by accident. If you want to make sure your employees are as alert as possible, you need to (1) create an operational structure which promotes alertness and (2) give the workforce the tools they need to make good decisions.

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Article Tags: alertness, shiftwork, sleep, worker fatigue



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