Sleep Deprivation Can Impact Your Workers' Comp

To comply with safety standards, many companies examine workplace conditions, but one issue that is often overlooked is sleep deprivation. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30% of American adults are sleep deprived. Inadequate sleep can pose a serious risk to one’s health and also pose a danger in the workplace, causing decreased cognitive function, impaired judgment, slow reaction time, memory loss, and a lack of motivation.

These problems have the potential to lead to injuries, safety hazards, or accidents, which can affect a business’s workers’ compensation. A lack of sleep plays a role in hundreds of thousands of workplace accidents each year, and billions of dollars in losses industry-wide.

Here are some ideas companies have used to combat the negative effects of sleep deprivation:

• Establish a maximum number of hours that an employee can work per week, including overtime hours.
• Institute comp time or flex time programs.
• Support family time demands — an employee who has been actively working overtime for an extended period should be given priority for time-off requests.
• Establish rules for employee lunch time, and allow employees to take a short break in the morning and afternoon.
• Set up a wellness program or workshops to educate workers on good sleep habits, and include wellness assessments.