The Cost of Inadequate Sleep among On-Call Workers in Australia: A Workplace Perspective.

Grace E Vincent,Irina Kinchin,Sally A Ferguson,Sarah M Jay

doi:10.3390/ijerph15030398

Abstract

On-call or stand-by is becoming an increasingly prevalent form of work scheduling. However, on-call arrangements are typically utilised when workloads are low, for example at night, which can result in inadequate sleep. It is a matter of concern that on-call work is associated with an increased risk of workplace injury. This study sought to determine the economic cost of injury due to inadequate sleep in Australian on-call workers. The prevalence of inadequate sleep among on-call workers was determined using an online survey, and economic costs were estimated using a previously validated costing methodology. Two-thirds of the sample (66%) reported obtaining inadequate sleep on weekdays (work days) and over 80% reported inadequate sleep while on-call. The resulting cost of injury is estimated at $2.25 billion per year ($1.71–2.73 billion). This equates to $1222 per person per incident involving a short-term absence from work; $2.53 million per incident classified as full incapacity, and $1.78 million for each fatality. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to quantify the economic cost of workplace injury due to inadequate sleep in on-call workers. Well-rested employees are critical to safe and productive workplace operations. Therefore, it is in the interest of both employers and governments to prioritise and invest far more into the management of inadequate sleep in industries which utilise on-call work arrangements.

Highlights

On-call or stand-by is a form of scheduling whereby an employee can be called into work under emergency or unpredictable circumstances [1]
To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to quantify the economic cost of workplace injury due to inadequate sleep in on-call workers
As a first step into investigating the economic cost of on-call work, the objective of this study is to draw upon past research and validated costing methodology to quantify the economic cost of injury due to inadequate sleep of Australian on-call workers over one year

Summary

Introduction

On-call or stand-by is a form of scheduling whereby an employee can be called into work under emergency or unpredictable circumstances [1]. The industries that typically utilise on-call working arrangements include health care, emergency services, maintenance, and information technology [1]. On-call work scheduling is becoming increasingly prevalent, for example from 2005 to 2015 the proportion of on-call workers in the United States (US) increased from 2% to 17% [3,5]. On-call arrangements are often utilised when workloads may be low; as such they typically occur outside of normal working hours, at night [6]. Railroad engineers [7] and gas and electricity supply company supervisors [8] reported obtaining 0.5–1.5 h less sleep per night during on-call periods compared with not on-call. There is evidence to suggest that being on-call, regardless of whether an employee is called, can adversely impact sleep duration [9]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion