Sleep Deprivation Health Risk Management: High Risk Environments/Transportation

摘要

Sleep deprivation, health risks and chronic conditions are often managed reactively due to on-the-job injury, errors and poor performance. These comorbidities are a common cause of claims (medical, workers compensation, disability, etc.) and when well-managed can control costs. Sleep is a fundamental homeostatic biological process, which effectively means one MUST sleep in order to live. The normal human and quite frankly all animals have a circadian rhythm which in the human means we are programmed to have sleep/wake stability. This results in an awake state during daylight and sleep at night. Without adequate quantity, quality and continuity of sleep, there is impairment which includes alteration in executive cognitive function, sleepiness, fatigue, mood changes, and metabolic, endocrine, cardiovascular and immune abnormality. Some of the cognitive changes include inattention, lapses in alertness, errors of commission and omission, memory impairment, delayed reaction time, multitasking impairment, irritability and low motivation.