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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2016)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | April 15, 2016 | PAGE 5 Lack of sleep can impact workplace safety S cientific research shows a connection between lack of sleep and workplace accidents. A study at Harvard Medical School estimates that insomnia is responsible for 274,000 work- place accidents and errors in the U.S. each year. Global Corporate Challenge, a provider of employee health and performance services, col- lected data from nearly 300,000 workers at 1,200 organizations. More than 20 percent of em- ployees self-rated their overall sleep as “extremely poor,” “very poor” or “poor.” Of those, 93 percent were more likely to ex- hibit fatigue on the job, which is a common symptom of Exces- sive Daytime Sleepiness, a con- dition “proven to increase risk of absenteeism, accidents and injury in the workplace.” The Center for Disease Con- trol and Prevention reports that 30 percent of adults in the U.S. suffer from sleep deprivation. Mark Raymond, an elec- troencephalographic technolo- gist at Mercy Medical Neuro- physiology and Sleep Lab, told the Sioux City Journal that get- ting only four hours of sleep nightly for a week might be akin to the equivalent to a blood al- cohol level of .1 percent — “possibly making it safer to be drunk than sleep impaired once you reach a certain level.” Sleep experts say an adult needs a minimum of seven hours of sleep to properly func- tion. Researchers at Harvard Medical School have identified a variety of practices and habits that can help anyone maximize the hours they spend sleeping, even those whose sleep is af- fected by insomnia, jet lag, or shift work. Here are some simple tips for making the sleep of your dreams a nightly reality: • Exercise helps promote rest- ful sleep if it is done several hours before you go to bed. • Avoid caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and other chemicals that interfere with sleep. Lighten up on evening meals, too. • A quiet, dark, and cool envi- ronment can help promote sound slumber. Lower the vol- ume of outside noise with earplugs or a “white noise” ap- pliance. Use heavy curtains, blackout shades, or an eye mask to block light, a powerful cue that tells the brain that it’s time to wake up. Keep the tempera- ture comfortably cool—be- tween 60 and 75 degrees —and the room well ventilated. And make sure your bedroom is equipped with a comfortable mattress and pillows. Also, if a pet regularly wakes you during the night, you may want to con- sider keeping it out of your bed- room. • Keeping computers, TVs, and work materials out of the bedroom will strengthen the mental association between your bedroom and sleep. • Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Going to bed and waking up at the same time sets the body’s “internal clock” to expect sleep at a certain time night after night. Try to stick as closely as possible to your rou- tine on weekends to avoid a Monday morning sleep hang- over. Waking up at the same time each day is the very best way to set your clock. • Establish a soothing pre- sleep routine. Light reading be- fore bed or a hot bath is a good way to prepare for sleep. If you tend to take your problems to bed, try writing them down— and then putting them aside. • Go to sleep when you’re truly tired. Struggling to fall sleep just leads to frustration. If you’re not asleep after 20 min- utes, get out of bed, go to an- other room, and do something relaxing, like reading or listen- ing to music until you are tired enough to sleep. • Don’t be a nighttime clock- watcher. Staring at a clock in your bedroom, either when you are trying to fall asleep or when you wake in the middle of the night, can actually increase stress, making it harder to fall asleep. Turn your clock’s face away from you. • Drink enough fluid at night to keep from waking up thirsty—but not so much and so close to bedtime that you will be awakened by the need for a trip to the bathroom. • Nap early—or not at all. Many people make naps a regu- lar part of their day. However, for those who find falling asleep or staying asleep through the night problematic, afternoon napping may be one of the cul- prits. If you must nap, it’s better to keep it short and before 5 p.m. If your sleep difficulties don’t improve through good sleep hy- giene, you may want to consult your physician or a sleep spe- cialist.
