Lack of sleep is an epidemic in America, especially for working adults. More than 43 percent of U.S. workers are sleep deprived, with those most at risk working the night shift, long shifts, or irregular shifts. Occupational fatigue, or the inability to perform normal work tasks due to the constant feeling of tiredness, has far-reaching consequences for workers and workers’ compensation.
Adults need an average of seven to nine hours of sleep each night. However, 30 percent report averaging less than six hours. This may be due to personal sleep habits as well as sleep disorders such as sleep apnea or insomnia. In fact, one in three American adults describe their sleep as only “fair” or “poor.” Insufficient sleep leads to sleep debt (when you sleep fewer hours than your body needs), which can quickly lead to fatigue, which can result in slow reaction time, reduced attention, and impaired judgment.
In turn, fatigue in the workplace can lead to poor productivity at best, and injury or death at worst. Fatigue is estimated to cost employers more than $136 billion per year in health-related lost productivity – or $1,200 to $3,100 per employee annually. And a 2023 survey of employers and employees in high-risk industries shows that fatigue remains the top safety risk across industries and the largest contributor to injuries in the workplace.
As these injuries occur, workers’ compensation claims follow – as do increased injury costs and more time off the job for injured workers.
Workplace Fatigue: By the Numbers
- 81% of workers have jobs at high risk of fatigue
- 76% of workers feel tired at work
- 43% of workers don’t get the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep
- 27% of workers have unintentionally fallen asleep on the job
