| Fatigue is probably the greatest killer of our time - | | | | discovered that companies waste up to 520 hours |
| not lives (well not directly) but productivity. Britons | | | | per employee per annum failing to manage their |
| work the longest hours in Europe yet (and by the | | | | energy correctly. Both studies reveal the acute loss |
| government's own admission) we lag the rest of the | | | | of productivity due to fatigue. |
| developed world in almost all productivity measures. | | | | Stress is a common companion of fatigue, and also |
| Part of the reason is the rapidly diminishing amount of | | | | common in Britain. One in three people are so wound |
| sleep we are getting. We are now well aware that | | | | up by their jobs that they cannot sleep properly, five |
| we should eat '5-a-day', exercise for 30 minutes each | | | | million are extremely stressed by their work and half |
| day and give up smoking but so many people still | | | | a million people say work-related stress made them |
| believe they can achieve more by sacrificing sleep. | | | | physically sick. When we are fatigued our |
| Coupled with longer working hours there are now | | | | responsibilities seem more overwhelming and |
| even more ways to entertain ourselves or work into | | | | stressful, and stress in and of itself exhausts both |
| the early hours - the inevitable result is we are | | | | the mind and body. This often leads to a downward |
| sleeping less. A poll by GMTV in 2006 showed that | | | | spiral of exhaustion, contributing to negative health |
| only 19% of Brits sleep for the recommended 8 | | | | consequences such obesity and diabetes. |
| hours and in the South East an alarming 42% of | | | | Too many people do not fully understand the effects |
| people sleep for less than 5 hours a night. | | | | of fatigue and the solutions to avoiding it. |
| Sleeping less than 6 hours can seriously inhibit | | | | Organisations can reduce fatigue levels in their |
| performance and sleeping 4 or 5 hours a night impairs | | | | workforce by implementing a few simple measures: |
| our performance equivalent to a blood alcohol level of | | | | first, understanding levels of fatigue through |
| 0.1% (the UK drink drive limit is 0.08%). We are | | | | assessments; second, providing basic training on |
| revered when we work long hours but kick-starting | | | | fatigue prevention; and third, encouraging the use of |
| the day with a couple of pints of beer would most | | | | mid-day rest through controlled napping- the 21st |
| likely lead to dismissal, yet the result is effectively | | | | century equivalent being only 15 to 20 minutes. As |
| the same. | | | | Winston Churchill remarked "You get two days in |
| As a result, we all waste 151 minutes every day in | | | | one. |
| presenteeism. Cranfield Management School also | | | | |