The Nuts and Bolts of an Effective Fatigue & Sleep Training Program

How a Fatigue & Sleep Training Program can improve your employees’ health and reduce your bottom line.

Fatigue and insufficient sleep impact every facet of our lives, including our ability to perform optimally, and safely at work. Not getting enough sleep makes it more challenging to maintain focus, attention, and vigilance and can significantly impact our physical and emotional health. 

It is estimated that chronic insufficient sleep costs US companies more than $135 billion every year in health-related lost productivity and even more when you consider costs related to fatigue-related errors and accidents.

How would a Fatigue & Sleep Training Program benefit my company?

Providing Fatigue & Sleep Training Programs as part of a company’s overall health and wellness strategy or as part of a safety initiative is a win-win for the employees and employer. Improving workers’ sleep and decreasing fatigue risk at work provides benefits such as:

1.   Improved Health and Well-Being: 

   

   • Employees – Getting adequate good quality sleep on a consistent basis is often described as a “magic pill” that can improve our physical and mental health.
   • Employers – Improved employee physical and mental health can decrease an employer’s health care costs.

2. Fewer Errors, Incidents, and Accidents:  

   

   • Employees – The number of workplace errors and omissions, incidents, and accidents will decrease with a well-rested workforce. 
   • Employers – Employers will have lower equipment repair and replacement costs, and fewer medical and workers’ compensation payments when workplace fatigue is mitigated.

3. Improved Creativity: 

   

   • Employees – Workers will experience enhanced innovation and creative problem-solving skills when they have adequate good quality sleep.
   • Employers – Employers gain the benefits of workers’ increased productivity and enhanced efficiency

How can tell if my workers need a Fatigue & Sleep Training Program?

Fatigue and sleep issues are universal problems, so just about everyone would benefit from training. How widespread is the problem? The National Safety Council reports that an astonishing 43% of workers are sleep-deprived. Not getting enough sleep is associated with various adverse health effects, decreased workplace and public safety, and impaired job performance. In fact, routinely sleeping 6 hours or less each night can result in cognitive performance deficits that are equivalent to up to 2 nights of total sleep deprivation.

The neuro-cognitive effects of fatigue impairment are similar to the ones experienced when impaired by alcohol. It makes sense then that employee fatigue is addressed as systematically in a workplace environment as alcohol impairment is.

How many companies offer Fatigue & Sleep Training Programs?

The trend to bring sleep education into the workplace to improve the health and safety of employees is gaining momentum. The number of US employers offering sleep support or education programs tripled between 2017 and 2020, and the number of shiftwork operations that provide lifestyle training, including sleep education, doubled over the past 10-15 years. 

Who should attend a Fatigue & Sleep Training Program?

Everyone.

 All employees, from line workers to company leaders and from the so-called 9 to 5er to fixed or rotating shift workers benefit from sleep education programs. Workers will walk away with ready-to-use strategies to optimize their sleep and leaders will learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of fatigue and what to do to reduce fatigue-related errors, incidents, and accidents.

In addition, for shiftwork operations, involving the family in the training not only helps to provide support for the shift worker but also maximizes the training’s long-term value. 

What is the curriculum of a Fatigue & Sleep Training Program?

To successfully maximize a training’s effectiveness and craft customized content the unique risk factors of an audience need to be identified and clearly defined. In most cases, sleep and fatigue training programs are built around 2 core work audiences: 

1. Dayworkers (80% Population)– People that work traditional daytime hours (7 AM-7 PM). A workshop for daytime workers (i.e., nighttime sleepers) should detail the benefits of a bedtime routine, teach ways to optimize sleep by adjusting a sleep environment and emphasize the importance of making sleep a priority.
   
   
2. Shiftworkers (20% Population) – People who routinely work outside of traditional daytime hours due to evening, night, and rotating work shifts are often overlooked in traditional sleep/fatigue training programs. A program specifically designed for shift workers should focus on the challenges of working long and/or irregular hours. In addition, strategies for getting better sleep during daytime hours, tips for using naps effectively, and special considerations for a safe and healthy shift worker diet are also important to this audience.

How is a Fatigue & Sleep Training Program best delivered?

Depending on the unique needs and interests of an audience, Fatigue & Sleep Training Programs vary in length, from one to four hours. They can be delivered either remotely or in a more interactive in-person setting.

Many companies host evening or weekend sessions allowing spouses or significant others to benefit, both as support and to learn sleep techniques for themselves.

Are Fatigue & Sleep Training Programs effective at reducing fatigue risk in the workplace?

Employer-sponsored Fatigue & Sleep Training Programs yield improvements in sleep duration and quality, and a decrease in self-reported fatigue levels. 

Pre- and post-program surveys indicate that Fatigue & Sleep Training Programs result in a significant increase in the average (daytime) sleep length of shift workers (4.8 hours to 5.8 hours) and fewer reports of moderate to severe fatigue at work. 

Furthermore, employers who offer lifestyle training programs that provide information on fatigue and sleep, report lower turnover rates, reducing costs.

What Sleep & Fatigue Training Programs Does CIRCADIAN Offer?

CIRCADIAN offers a variety of customized sleep and fatigue training programs which include: 

• Classroom Based Workshops for day workers and shift workers
• Train-The-Trainer Programs 
• Fatigue Training Online 
• Publications: Working Nights Newsletter and Health & Safety Guides

Fatigue & Sleep Training Programs provide employees with information to help manage fatigue and understand the safety and health issues associated with not getting enough sleep. An effective customized training program will meet the unique risk factors of your workers, maximizing its health and safety outcomes for employees and reducing costs for employers.

Are you ready to help your employees optimize their sleep and enable them to be productive members of your workforce?

As the global leader in providing 24/7 workforce performance and safety solutions, CIRCADIAN® is uniquely qualified to design and deliver your Fatigue & Sleep Training Program. 

For more information about Fatigue & Sleep Training Programs, please call us at 781-439-6300 or email a specialist at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.