Labor & Employment Law

Sleep, Work and Safety

By Michael Fitzgibbon

On November 24 NOVA has a program called What Are Dreams? and joins leading dream researchers as they "embark on a variety of neurological and psychological experiments to investigate the world of sleep and dreams." (thanks to Moleskinerie for the tip). 

The link between sleep, safety and impairment is one that occasionally crops up in employment law for example, where there is a request for accommodation of a shift worker or where there is an accident.  The Harvard Medical School has a helpful site that reviews, in part, the link between Sleep, Performance and Public Safety.  Here are some of the links:

• The demands and expectations of our modern society have placed increasing demands on our time, and more than ever people are making up for those demands by cutting back on sleep.

• At the same time, it is becoming increasingly clear that the cost of insufficient sleep is much higher than most people recognize.

• Scientific research is revealing, for example, how sleep loss, and even poor-quality sleep, can lead to an increase in errors at the workplace, decreased productivity, and accidents that cost both lives and resources. Awareness can help you improve your sleep habits and in turn your safety.

NOVA offers some great links if you're interested in further research.

Full post as published by Thoughts from a Management Lawyer on November 22, 2009 (boomark / email).