This weekend, we’ll all be able to get an extra hour of sleep as Daylight Savings Time comes to an end and we turn our clocks back one hour. And while your kids may still get up at the same time no matter what the clocks say, there are a number of other ways we can be impacted by this time change, including at the workplace.
Interestingly, studies have shown that workplace injuries tend to spike when the clocks are changed. Previous research has shown that it takes about one week for our bodies to adjust to the new times for sleeping, eating and activity, and that can cause problems on the jobsite if your body and brain aren’t completely focused on the task at hand. Additionally, if these clock changes contribute to sleep problems, you may be at a greater risk of injury as a result of sleep deprivation.
Daylight Savings Time And Work Injuries
According to one specific study, daylight savings time resulted in an average of 40 fewer minutes of sleep, and these workers saw a 5.7 percent increase in workplace injuries within a week of the time change. Moreover, these injuries tended to be more severe, with nearly 70 percent missing time from work as a result of their injuries.
The good news is that this study only looked at sleep loss and injury rates as a result of the start of daylight savings time in March, when the clocks move forward. Other studies have failed to find a meaningful connection between the end of daylight savings time in November and a spike in work-related injuries as a result of this time jump. That said, you should still be mindful of how this time change could affect your body. Don’t stay up later because you assume you’ll have an extra hour of sleep, because as we mentioned above, your kid, your dog or your spouse may have other plans. It’s not uncommon to wake up feeling more tired than normal even though you anticipated getting more sleep, and fatigue can certainly cause problems on the job site.
So while you won’t need to be as mindful as you likely would during the time change in March, know that daylight savings time could still cause issues next week. It’s going to get darker much sooner, and if you work into the evening, this loss of visibility can certainly make your job more dangerous. Make sure that you’re visible with reflective gear and account for this loss in visibility.
If you end up suffering an injury next week, whether or not you believe it to be related to the time change, make sure that you reach out to an experienced workers’ compensation firm. We can also help with personal injury lawsuits if the early darkness contributed to a car accident during your commute or at another time on the road. For more information, or to see if you have a possible claim, reach out to the team at Hey Workers today at (844) 439-9675.
