Work fatigue impacting sleep ability

Tuesday 2nd November 2010

Fatigue caused by work commitments is causing a vicious circle of poor quality sleep that only serves to exacerbate the problem, according to a recently released Australian study. Furthermore, the worst effects of the fatigue are generally experienced at home, as well as contributing to low productivity at work. Irritability, low moods and an inability to fulfil out-of-work responsibilities such as family commitments were all cited as home-life effects of fatigue.

The research, carried out by the University of South Australia, found that 30% of workers felt that their job impacted on their ability to have a good sleep, and a similar number claimed that they never sleep for more than seven hours and feel frequently tired at work and at home.

The effects of sleep deprivation on productivity at work are well-known, but the impacts on home-life are generally less acknowledged. The assumption that being at home equates directly to relaxing and recuperating is common, yet the results of this study show it is often not the case.

“Long and irregular working hours is one of the key issues people are working around to try and get some sort of control over work and the responsibilities in the rest of their lives,” said Michelle Hogan from SafeWork SA Work Life Balace Project, who carried out the research. “Work-life interference has been shown to contribute to a range of problems in the workplace such as increased staff turnover, reduced productivity and reduced job satisfaction and commitment.”

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Category: Sleep Research

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