The Sleep Charity, a leading advice-focused charity, has launched a campaign to help businesses avoid accidents in the workplace caused by lack of sleep.
The month-long awareness campaign, Sleeptember now in its 11th year, was established by The Sleep Charity to promote the health benefits of a good night’s sleep. This year the charity will be challenging businesses to take sleep more seriously.
Lisa Artis, Sleep Expert and Deputy CEO of The Sleep Charity, said: “An increasing number of businesses are focusing on the mental health and wellbeing of their employees – but I don’t think many recognise the importance that sleep plays in this.
“The Sleeptember campaign aims to address this, and we want employers to start having those all-important conversations with their employees about sleep and offer them advice and tips that could make a huge difference.”
Studies have shown that 60 per cent of workers have experienced a shortened attention span as a consequence of a bad night’s sleep and around 20 per cent of accidents in the workplace are caused by fatigue.
Outside of work, studies have also highlighted that 75 per cent of respondents state that workplace challenges had disrupted their sleep in the last six months. On the roads, one in six motorway crashes that resulted in death or injury were fatigued-related.
In response to these figures, The Sleep Charity launched The Sleep Charter to address the growing issue of sleep deprivation and fatigue in the workplace. The aim is to establish a social movement to change the way employees and employers think and act about sleep.
Warrington & Halton Teaching Hospital NHS Trust is one of the organisations taking part in Sleeptember. Lisa Melia, Senior Occupational Health Screening Nurse at the Trust, has recently become a Workplace Sleep Ambassador with the help of The Sleep Charity.
She has set up internal Sleep Clinics for employees, which aims to help employees understand their sleeping habits and learn ways to improve them.
She said: “The goal is to get everyone having a better night’s sleep. Or just a better understanding of sleep, because not every night is going to be perfect. It’s been really encouraging to see the positive response we’ve had to the Sleep Clinics.”
Alex Artis, Police Inspector for West Yorkshire Police, is also a Workplace Sleep Ambassador. He said: “Having links to The Sleep Charity is good because you have access to tips and advice from the experts there. It can be hard for people in the emergency services to put things in place that could help improve their sleep – because they’re already dealing with so much – but knowing the support is there is great.”
Short-term effects of sleep deprivation include poorer memory, lack of concentration, difficulty making decisions and problem solving. While the long-term health consequences of sleep issues include heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, depression and Alzheimer’s.
Lisa Artis added: “We’re challenging businesses this Sleeptember to sign up to The Sleep Charter and start to have those conversations about the importance of sleep with their employees.”
The charity will be hosting an event in the House of Commons on December 4 highlighting their work and encouraging business to sign up to the Sleep Charter. The Charter will make it easier for businesses to enact initiatives to help improve their employees’ sleep.
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