The public outcry over Air Traffic Controllers sleeping on the job has revealed how little the public — and some of our government officials — understand about night work and human fatigue physiology.  People are responding to this issue with emotion more than factual knowledge. 

Recently, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood stated emphatically, “On my watch, controllers will not be paid to take naps!”  This is an understandable response from a government official who knows there would be similar public outcry if it were revealed that “taxpayer dollars” were used to pay Air Traffic Controllers to sleep on the job.  The public has accepted this “pay to sleep” practice for municipal firefighters, but not for any other public safety positions.  However, this question of on-shift napping should not be centered on whether or not the public endorses it. 

The public debate over the ATC sleeping incidents has failed to address the core question:  Is napping at work on the night shift helpful or harmful to job performance?  Sleep researchers often recommend napping on night shifts as an antidote to the 2:00-5:00 a.m. circadian trough in the human alertness cycle.  Yet, those researchers typically are unaware of all the factors influencing a decision like this in a business environment. 

Moreover, a thorough data review shows that napping actually is a complicated matter.  That’s because, where napping is concerned, there are two types of humans—habitual nappers and non-nappers.  And, the answer to this core question depends on what category of humans one is referencing.

In my company’s training courses for both leaders and front-line workers, we include segments on napping.  In addition, our Trainer’s Resource Manual contains an overview of the findings from three decades of napping research, entitled “Napping: Harmful or Beneficial?”  Following is a summary of some key concepts from those learning resources: 

Only a one- to two-hour prophylactic nap—meaning a short sleep taken to “bank” sleep prior to a foreseeable period of sleep loss—mitigates on-shift sleepiness and fatigue among night workers and increases vigilance and reaction-time performance on the job without creating risks from sleep inertia.

Importantly, though, these positive effects are documented only among habitual nappers who make napping part of their regular sleep regime.  Random napping, especially among non-nappers, will be more harmful than helpful because it will disturb the quantity and quality of people’s core sleep periods, resulting in more cognitive fatigue, not less. 

So, before you enter the ongoing debate about on-shift napping, get educated on this important subject.  Start by reading this excerpt on napping from our Building ShiftWork Resilience™ Trainers’ Resource Manual.

© 2011, Susan L. Koen, Ph.D.

Tags: Fatigue at Work, Fatigue Management, Human Performance, Round The Clock, Shift Work