Shift Work and Sleep
The struggle to get adequate sleep during the day while working nights is familiar to many of us. In fact, 15 million workers or 20% of the American labor force work than the typical 9-5 shift. Some are swing shift, some cemetery and some even rotate shifts between days and nights. Many people simply do not adapt to the unnatural pattern of wakefulness and sleep. The resulting sleep deprivation leads to increased disease in the short and long term health problems. A higher incidence of accidents and errors associated with sleep deprivation. The loss of productivity can only be estimated in billions of dollars.That is why we need to look for insomnia cures and fast ways to fall asleep fast
Simply shift workers sleep less night. In many industries, rotating work schedules often do not allow enough time off. Many industries are included in the federal regulations on the duration and frequency shifts. It also establishes a minimum period of rest before returning to work. Most notable are the transportation industries, where regulations are quite specific to railroads, commercial trucking and airlines. One of the most difficult adjustments that lead to sleep deprivation is rapidly rotating work schedules, where the changes last less than three weeks.
U.S. National Highway Traffic estimates ≥ 100,000 accidents reported annually due to driver fatigue, resulting in 1.550 deaths and 71,000 injuries in 2008. Economic losses exceeded $ 12 billion. Traffic accidents are more likely after 11pm and more 1:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.. In the non-transportation industries 25% of night shift workers reported that their work schedules do not allow enough time sleeping and 33% reported getting less sleep than needed to do their best work.
There is no answer regarding work schedules so different industrial demands vary widely. Economic and social factors of change, even within individual industries to dramatically affect the workload at any given time. However, there are some universal factors in a work schedule that may affect safety and productivity. The most important are the number of hours worked and how much time is allowed between innings of work for appropriate recovery. There are also differences in part-time work is performed during the afternoon shift or night, when injuries and decreased productivity are more common. When change is initiated and worked the number of consecutive shifts also affect safety. Employees are poor at assessing their own level of alert.
All non-shift workers suffer from sleep disorders. However, if an individual is in the night shift are more likely to suffer medical consequences or have any problems with productivity. The effects of sleep deprivation on alertness, trial and productivity have been quantitatively compared with the effects of alcohol. With 2-4 hours of sleep lost, the trial and productivity is comparable to drinking 3-5 beers. The loss of a total of 8 hours of sleep can affect someone comparable to drinking 10 beers. The message is that sleep deprivation night shift work is common and is associated with physical and emotional discomfort. The net result is the increase of accidents, injuries and lost productivity.
