Wake-Up Call: One-Third of American Workers Sleeping on the Job

[Jenn! 918]

March 4, 2008

Roughly one-third of American workers said they had fallen asleep or become very sleepy at work in the past month, according to a survey released.

The survey of 1,000 people by the National Sleep Foundation found participants average six hours and 40 minutes of sleep a night on weeknights, even though they estimated they'd need roughly another 40 minutes of sleep to be at their best.

Just how big a deal that is depends, of course, on one's job. Last week, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged it should have done more to investigate a tip that security guards routinely took naps while on the job at a Pennsylvania nuclear plant.

It wasn't until a videotape of guards sleeping in a "ready room'' at the Peach Bottom plant in south-central Pennsylvania surfaced several months after it got the tip that the NRC announced in September a special investigation.

While sleepy workers know they're not performing as well as they could during the day, work is what's keeping them up nights, according to the survey, which found workdays are getting longer and time spent working from home averages close to four-and-a-half hours each week.

It seems people are also trying to squeeze in more time for themselves and their families, even if it means less sleep. The average wake up is at 5:35 a.m. and it's followed by about two hours and 15 minutes at home before heading out to work, according to the survey. Average bedtime is 10:53.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/natio...73.htm?ref=feed

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Wow, 5:30 am is really early to wake up. I don't get up till at least 7:30! Of course, I usually don't go to bed until after midnight. Don't usually get sleepy at work though.

How about you? Ever pull a George under your desk?

Edited March 4, 2008 by Jenn!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I've never fallen asleep but I have been very sleepy.

[Niels Bohr 72]

They're sleepy because they don't take their jobs seriously!

[almaty 19]

never fell asleep but had to fight it off a few times

[Nessa 23]

I wake up early and sleep early and never pulled a George under my desk. Maybe I will when I start this new job, it'll be my first non-office job and I'll work til 2230. So who knows, maybe I will pull a George under my desk, wait a minute, I won't have a desk, nvm.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I've crawled under my desk and taken a 15 minute nap a few times, but I considered it my break.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

As someone who worked it a nuclear power plant back in the 80s, I beg to differ. You try sitting on a chair for 12 hours doing nothing but watching a hole in the ground. Not a person comes by and the only noise is the hum of the plant. You are not allowed to do anything to stimulate your brain.

They're sleepy because they don't take their jobs seriously!

[DeadPoolX 9]

I don't usually require that much sleep. If I get six hours of sleep, I'm fantastic. This is in stark contrast to my wife, who says she needs around eight hours of sleep or she's tired the whole day. I don't understand that, but apparently it's true -- I've seen the results myself!

My wife thinks I shortchange myself on sleep. I don't really think so. Sometimes I might, but not on a regular basis. There have been times where I've been up the whole night or slept three hours or less. I can do that pretty easily for a night or two before it catches up with me.

I think the longest I've gone without sleeping was about three or four days straight. That wasn't too enjoyable. I won't relate the circumstances, but by the end of it, I began to have both auditory and visual hallucinations. Fortunately, I was too young to drive at the time and even if I could have driven, I wouldn't have done so in that condition.

[Nessa 23]

As someone who worked it a nuclear power plant back in the 80s, I beg to differ. You try sitting on a chair for 12 hours doing nothing but watching a hole in the ground. Not a person comes by and the only noise is the hum of the plant. You are not allowed to do anything to stimulate your brain.

If not a person comes by, what's stopping them from listening to music or reading a book?

Edited March 4, 2008 by Nessa

[Mags 112]

I used to fall asleep at my microscope and almost pop my eyeballs out. But then I'm an appallingly bad night sleeper at the best of times.

[Nessa 23]

haha@ evil moderator with cute accent

[SteveLaura 0]

I've napped in other jobs, not this one.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Instant termination if caught. Obviously, there is always the remote possibility a NRC inspector could walk by. Further you would have to find a place to conceal those items. The supervisor would not allow you to leave the office with those items in hand. They would only have to remain in your personal locker for use on lunch break.

As someone who worked it a nuclear power plant back in the 80s, I beg to differ. You try sitting on a chair for 12 hours doing nothing but watching a hole in the ground. Not a person comes by and the only noise is the hum of the plant. You are not allowed to do anything to stimulate your brain.

If not a person comes by, what's stopping them from listening to music or reading a book?

[Mags 112]

So, you used to have Homer Simpson's job IRL?

Instant termination if caught. Obviously, there is always the remote possibility a NRC inspector could walk by. Further you would have to find a place to conceal those items. The supervisor would not allow you to leave the office with those items in hand. They would only have to remain in your personal locker for use on lunch break.

As someone who worked it a nuclear power plant back in the 80s, I beg to differ. You try sitting on a chair for 12 hours doing nothing but watching a hole in the ground. Not a person comes by and the only noise is the hum of the plant. You are not allowed to do anything to stimulate your brain.

If not a person comes by, what's stopping them from listening to music or reading a book?

[almaty 19]

when i had a private practice..i napped ....nice to sit in a darken office and snooze