Sleep Smart: Unlock Better Health and Workplace Performance
The following article is written for workers, feel free to use the information as your next Toolbox talk.
Sleep disorders
66% of Australians experience at least one sleep problem, which could be putting your mental and physical health and workplace performance at risk.
Sleep costs
- Sleep problems cost Australia about $66.3 billion every year.
- Tired workers are 1.5 times more likely to have an incident at work.
- Long term sleep problems increase the risk of serious health issues by 40%.
- Workers who don’t get enough sleep are 70% more prone to making mistakes.
How poor sleep affects your health
- Physical Health: Poor sleep can harm your brain, heart, immune system, blood sugar levels, and make it harder to keep a healthy weight.
- Mental Health: Not enough sleep makes it harder to control emotions, increases stress, makes you less likely to socialise, and can lead to anxiety or depression.
Risks at work
- Poor sleep slows your reaction time.
- It increases the chance of injuries, like muscle or joint problems.
- You’re more likely to make mistakes or take dangerous risks.
How to prevent risk factors
The best way to manage how activities outside of work can affect your sleep is through education. By understanding how looking after yourself benefits you, you’ll be more aware of the choices you make outside of work and how they impact your energy levels on the job.
Key takeaways
What can you do to improve your sleep and reduce your risk of fatigue?
- Get adequate sleep. Rest is important to recovery from mentally and physically demanding tasks.
- Stick to a regular sleep schedule.
- Avoid caffeine and heavy meals before bed.
- Create a relaxing bedtime routine.
- Keep your bedroom quiet, dark, and cool.
- Limit screen time before sleeping.
- Look out for signs of fatigue and talk to your supervisor if you are at risk.
- Seek medical advice and help if your health is affecting your sleep and/or causing fatigue.
- Follow workplace policies, procedures and programs for fatigue.
Sleep education
Sleep and mental health with Dr. Ruth Vine (Dept Chief Medical Office for Mental Health) Top 3 questions – Sleep and mental health with Doctor Ruth Vine | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
Sleep education with Amanda Slinger (Sleep and Performance Expert) About (sleepspot.com.au)
For further information
Spring Safety Consultants
Ph: 9202 6812
Email: info@springsafety.com.au
References
Deloitte Access Economics. (2017). Rise and try to shine: The social and economic cost of sleep disorders in Australia. Sleep Health Foundation.
Itani, O., Kaneita, Y., Jike, M., Murata, A., Nakagome, S., & Ohida, T. (2018). Sleep-related factors associated with industrial accidents among factory workers and sleep hygiene education intervention. Sleep and Biological Rhythms, 16(2), 1–13.
Kelly, M. R., Hillier, E. A., Aria, F., Gulotta, J., & Haynes, P. L. (2019). Recovery sleep versus emotion regulation in predicting fire service shift workers’ stress, fatigue, and irritability. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 1-12.
Sprajcer, M., Thomas, M. J. W., Sargent, C., Crowther, M. E., Boivin, D. B., Wong, I. S., Smiley, A., & Dawson, D. (2022). How effective are Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS)? A review. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 165, 106398.
Williamson, A. M., Feyer, A., Mattick, R. P., Friswell, R., & Finlay-Brown, S. (2001). Developing measures of fatigue using an alcohol comparison to validate the effects of fatigue on performance. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 33(3), 313-326. (Gander et al., 1998: citied in Gander et al., 2011)
