Fatigue in the Workplace
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This document discusses fatigue in the workplace and potential solutions. It begins with an introduction and agenda. It then discusses how fatigue is related to health conditions like chronic diseases and stress, and how lack of sleep can negatively impact metabolism. Fatigue in the workplace can be an occupational hazard for certain professions. Employers can help address fatigue through wellness programs that focus on chronic diseases, stress, sleep, and mindfulness. They can engage employees by tailoring programs to their culture and empowering employees to have a voice.
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Fatigue in the Workplace
- 1. Fatigue in the Workplace Understanding the impact and solutions
- 2. Introduction Charlotte Schaar Wellbeing Strategist Huntington Insurance Charlotte.Schaar@huntington.com 330-430-1316
- 3. Agenda • Introduction- Icebreaker • Fatigue • Fatigue Health Conditions, Chronic disease, stress and sleep • How fatigue impacts the workplace • Employee Engagement • Employee Empowerment • Conclusion
- 5. Icebreaker – Diaphragmatic Breathing Welcoa.org
- 7. Related to health conditions WebMD.com
- 8. Chronic Modifiable Diseases Cancer Heart Disease Stroke Hypertension Diabetes CDC Ohio Department of Health
- 11. Sleep Deprivation and Metabolism Insulin Cortisol Leptin Ghrelin Appetite Sleep Deprived Belly Fat Satiation Resistance Welcoa.org
- 12. Perfect storm for weight gain leading to chronic disease Linked with FATIGUE
- 13. Sleep Deprivation as an occupational hazard Who is at Risk?
- 14. Horrendous accident related to sleep deprivation • The Challenger Explosion- According to a 1988 report, certain managers involved in the launch had only slept two hours before arriving to work at 1 a.m. that morning. The Presidential Commission on the accident admitted the danger of this deprivation in its June 1986 report, writing, “The willingness of NASA employees in general to work excessive hours, while admirable, raises serious questions when it jeopardizes job performance, particularly when critical management decisions are at stake.” Huff Post National Sleep Foundation
- 16. Employer Sponsored Wellness Programs • Impact Fatigue by incorporating • Policies and procedures on fatigue • Programs that focus on impacting Modifiable Chronic Diseases • Programs that address Stress • Programs that address Sleep • Programs that address mindfulness • Employee Engagement • Tailor program to your culture • Incentivize Employees • Empower Employees to have a voice
- 17. Questions
Editor's Notes
- Before we dive into the presentation I want us to partake in a mindfulness activity of Diaphragmatic breathing. 4-7-8 breathing is a quick and easy way to begin to relax. This exercise is beneficial to our health and wellbeing. It can help reduce or eliminate stress and anxiety while improving the bodies inflammatory response. Not only that but it is a technique you can take back to your workplace and incorporate to help energize members of your team. As wellness is always voluntary I encourage you to participate in this activity. We will complete two rounds of this exercise. I will count, you breath. Please note that you will breath in through your nose for 4 counts, hold for 7 and then exhale through your mouth for 8. When you breath in through your nose your stomach should expand and when you exhale it will collapse. Please place your hand on your stomach and follow my lead.
- Now hopefully you are relaxed! Lets talk about fatigue and what that really means. The obvious signs of fatigue include drowsiness, mood changes, loss of energy and appetite, depression and anxiety. However those suffering from fatigue may also have headaches and or lack of motivation. Anytime I do not get the right amount of sleep or experience a sleepless night I seem to have all of these symptoms. Since I often study this topic and work with my clients surrounding stress in the workplace I think about how people must feel if they lacking sleep on a daily basis. One poor night of sleep for myself results in almost all of these symptoms and as I’ve gotten older headaches seem to be more prevalent. There have been notable differences between men and women who experience fatigue, woman may feel more sad and upset (think emotional time bomb) while men may show more signs of anger. What if someone is fatigued every single day of his or her life? What are the health consequences? What are some things you can do to help your employees combat fatigue. Lets find out. Our first step is to talk about conditions related to fatigue.
- Fatigue can be associated with other health conditions, some of the common include High Blood Pressure and diabetes. Those diagnosed with metabolic syndrome are also likely to have sleep apnea due to excessive weight which leads to fatigue. These chronic diseases are often modifiable through a healthy lifestyle. So lets talk about modifiable chronic diseases.
- I think this is a really important aspect to hit on. This is something that could be one of many presentations of its own but an understanding of chronic diseases and its impact on our health is beneficial even if we just skim the surface. A healthy lifestyle can have a tremendous impact on Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Stroke, Hypertension, and Diabetes. Although some of these diseases may have a genetic predisposition, a healthy lifestyle can still have a positive impact. Health Risk behaviors that have a negative impact on the diseases include tobacco use, unhealthy eating, and physical inactivity. These risk behaviors are completely modifiable. Nearly ½ of Americans today have 1 or more chronic diseases. Ohio, in particular, ranks 47th for health value The burden of chronic disease costs Ohio $27 billion in work productivity and medical costs 30% of adult Ohioans are obese and 13% if high schoolers In 2014 62% of Ohio Deaths were caused by chronic disease
- Stress is largely associated with chronic disease and you will see as we move through this presentation that when concerning fatigue one thing is related to another. Did you know that it is estimated that 60-80% of Primary Care Doctor visits are related to stress and only 3% of patients receive stress management. Stress can play a huge role in worker productivity, absenteeism, presentism, and employee health. 83% of Americans report that work is a significant amount of stress. 42 % of surveyed people reported laying in bed awake at night, unable to get to sleep due to stress. With the rise in technology, humans are on demand 24/7 which can lead to cerebral burnout. Examples of this is constantly checking emails and voicemails, never really leaving work. This burnout leads to irritability, frustration, anger, and those that experience burnout are not likely to be creative and innovative. Technology and always being connected have a huge impact on insomnia which is expected to get worse as technology advances. Chronic sleep deprivation can wreck havoc on our functionality daily.
- Chronic disease and stress can lead to sleep deprivation among other things. Just as we mentioned that obesity can lead to sleep apnea which can lead to fatigue and sleep deprivation, stress can keep us awake at night leading to sleep deprivation and burnout. Sleep deprivation is characterized as simply as not obtaining adequate total sleep. Sleep deprivation can lead to chronic fatigue which can impact all the areas we have already covered. Everything is interrelated
- adequate sleep for even a few nights has been found to significantly impact the body’s ability to manage its blood sugar levels. This could result in insulin resistance, which is when higher amounts of insulin are needed to reduce blood sugar levels because the body is unable to effectively use it. Being resistant to insulin causes glucose (blood sugar) to accumulate in the blood instead of being absorbed by cells for energy. This progressive resistance leads to numerous ailments such as prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, metabolic syndrome, and many more conditions. In studies when individuals got only 4 hours of sleep per night, evening cortisol levels were elevated and decreased 6 times slower when compared to the control subjects. This increase in cortisol actually leads to an increase in belly fat, which is very detrimental for overall health, significant correlation between sleep shortage and appetite. Recent studies have shown that our “appetite-regulating hormones,” ghrelin and leptin, are profoundly influenced by sleep duration - and the impact doesn’t just happen with long-term or dramatic sleep deprivation. Leptin is a hormone that signals satiety to our brains. It’s the “I feel full” message we get. Ghrelin, on the other hand, is known as the “hunger hormone” that signals our brains that we’re hungry. In numerous studies, sleep reduction was associated with leptin decrease and ghrelin elevation - a double whammy against any weight management or health goal! More ghrelin + less leptin = “I still feel hungry!”
- Anyone who has sleeping problems, untreated sleeping disorders or who is just not getting enough sleep may be fatigued. Shift workers are especially at high risk. They often need to work at a time when their body clock says they should sleep. They may also have to try and sleep when their body clock is geared to being awake and active. In fact, research has found that shift workers have 1-2 hours less sleep on average per 24 hours than non-shift workers. If you do safety-critical work (such as driving and using heavy vehicles and machinery) then you are also at risk. So are people making important business decisions. If you have a long commute to and from work, your risk may also be higher because of less time for rest and sleep. Also, if you often travel across time zones for work, you are at risk of jet lag. Travelers may also suffer due to getting poor sleep in unfamiliar places. Managing fatigue in the workplace is a shared responsibility. Under Work Health and Safety laws, all people in the workplace are legally responsible for preventing fatigue. The employer is responsible for making sure the work conditions are safe. This applies to things such as roster design. They must be able to clearly explain how they control risks linked to fatigue. The worker is responsible for turning up to work fit for duty including not being impaired by fatigue. This means making sure that you have enough sleep between work shifts. You must also let your employer know if you think that you may be fatigued.
- An average of 46% of employees leave the workforce- leading to high turnover. A staggering 38% of workers experience fatigue, costing companies $136 billion lost in productivity. Not only are workers less productive but they are also more prone to illness. Fatigue is also a distraction which could cause a safety incident. It is estimated that 10-20% of employees experience a sleep disorder.