What Is Fatigue Costing Your Company?

Every June, we observe National Safety Month – an initiative by the National Safety Council (NSC) to educate people on the leading causes of preventable injury and death and how to avoid them.

In 2020 alone, the U.S. experienced 200,955 preventable deaths and 55.4 million injuries, resulting in $1,158.4 billion in costs, according to NSC.

Many of these accidents can be attributed to trips and falls, violence, and exposure to illnesses such as COVID-19. But there’s a lesser-known cause that is receiving sudden attention: fatigue.

Fatigue is a feeling of constant tiredness or weakness that can stem not only from physical exertion, but from mental health issues, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic and subsequent economic recession.

Traditionally, Americans have received little education on the importance of sleep and the consequences of fatigue, but employers are beginning to draw more attention to the issue.

After all, investing in employee health is good for business. Sleep health education and sleep disorder screening programs offered by employers have been shown to reduce costs by improving employee performance, health, and safety in the workplace.

Now, you can calculate the cost of fatigue on your business with this tool – developed by NSC and the Brigham Health Matters Sleep Initiative to predict the prevalence of sleep deficiency among employees and estimate the annual costs associated with fatigue-related conditions.

As NSC’s research reveals, insufficient sleep and resulting fatigue can lead to diminished alertness, absenteeism, decreased productivity, and of course, increased healthcare costs.

The more you invest in a science-based fatigue risk management system (FRMS), the more of these costs your business can avoid.

Although the aviation industry has utilized FRMSs for years, other industries are beginning to see the value. In fact, the fatigue management applications market size is expected to reach $59 million by 2025.

The first step in implementing any FRMS is employee education, which is a crucial part of NCS’s work. Download its Fatigue at Work Employer Toolkit for more information on how to address this growing safety risk.