A new study concludes truckers are among the millions of American not getting enough sleep, putting them at increased risk for accidents, injuries and health problems.

The National Sleep Foundation Tuesday released findings from its annual poll on sleep in America. The poll results underscore what researchers and industry experts have said for years - that fatigue in the workplace costs American industry at least $77 billion per year.
"Employee fatigue has been linked to many of the most notorious incidents of our time, including the Exxon Valdez, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island, not to mention up to 25 percent of all highway accidents," said Dr. Martin Moore-Ede, president and CEO of Circadian Technologies Inc. a firm that implements corporate programs to reduce workplace risk factors.
"With Americans working longer hours, including demanding overnight shifts, I fully expect that the epidemic of employee fatigue will continue to cause significant problems," he said.
Over 45 percent of companies with round-the-clock operations view the business risks associated with fatigue as severe to moderate, according to CTI. In fact their most recent survey finds that operations managers believe employee fatigue to be the direct cause of at least 18 percent of all accidents and injuries suffered in their facilities.
Numerous research studies have demonstrated that shiftworkers are two times more likely than the average American to suffer from sleep apnea, which results in constant interrupted sleep and is directly linked to higher workplace accident rates. Sleep apnea is characterized by loud snoring and numerous instances of pauses in breathing during sleep.
According to the NSF poll, a majority of Americans support increased regulation on the number of hours worked by employees in demanding professions - such as doctors, pilots and truck drivers. Legislators in many states are already drafting legislation to limit the work hours of doctors and nurses, and industry interest groups continue to debate federal government efforts to revisit hours-of-service regulations in trucking, motorcoach, aviation, and rail industries.
According to Moore-Ede, "Recent court cases holding companies liable for employees who suffer fatigue-related injuries, as well as the current environment of soaring insurance premiums, are increasing pressure on companies to take proactive steps to reduce the chronic levels of drowsy employees in their workplaces."
According to CTI's research, which has been accumulated over 20 years, companies wanting to reduce the business risk from human factors can do several things:

• Evaluate their workforce towards better determining which schedules are least fatiguing and ensure the highest levels of performance and safety.

• Provide training for employees to educate them on how to reduce the risks associated with managing their lives around their work schedules.

• Perform periodic health and safety assessments of employees in order to implement programs to control risks from human factors.

• Measure employee fatigue levels while on-duty, and provide an alternative framework to hours of service regulations.