Abstract
This review describes some of the literature pertaining to sleep deprivation, shift working, and heat exposure. Consequences of each on human cognitive function, particularly with respect to vigilance and attentional capacity are reviewed. Individually, each of these factors is known to impair human cognition; however, we propose the possibility that for miners working in hot underground environments and who are assigned to rotating shifts, the combination may leave miners with significant degrees of fatigue and decreased ability to focus on tasks. We suggest that such decreased capacity for vigilance is a source of concern in an occupational health and safety context.
Highlights
A fundamental reality for life on Earth is that it came to its current form with an immutable pattern of light and dark featuring prominently in its evolutionary development
We acknowledge that there are myriad of functions served by sleep and alterations of any of those may lead to outcomes that decrease workplace safety; here we focus on the cognitive benefits conferred as the result of healthy sleep experiences
Either physical or mental fatigue is potentially dangerous in an active mine site where much physical activity is expected; we focus here on the possibility of sleep deprivation induced cognitive deficits that can lead miners to have decreased vigilance and focus
Summary
Western societies have relatively recently undertaken a shift from an agrarian-based “wake at dawn-bed at dusk” pattern of activity to a 24 h/7 day per week system where virtually every service desired is available at any time during the day and night. The literature reviewed here describes some of the consequences of altered sleeping behaviours for those who work shifts with a particular emphasis on those employed by the mining industry. We describe some implications of poor sleep quality that may be exacerbated by the physical environments of the underground mining industry. This paper advances the hypothesis that miners will oftentimes be working in harsh physical environments whilst experiencing some degree of cognitive dysfunction arising from abnormal sleeping behaviours. Fatigue induced cognitive changes arising from altered sleep patterns may be exacerbated by working in hot underground environments. We review here literature pertaining to the influence that these individual factors may have on human cognitive function before advancing our premise that such cognitive deficits are potentially contributing to unsafe workplaces in the mining sector
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