Occupational Injuries related to Sleepiness in Indian Traditional Industries

Introduction

Over a one year period, researchers studied the correlation of injuries and sleep

deprivation of workers in small, medium and large scale enterprises in Indian Traditional

Industries.

It is known that lack of sleep can affect both job performance as well as cognitive

processing. Researchers wanted to know how lack of sleep would affect both of these areas. This

is relevant to the world because everyone has experienced sleep deprivation at some point in

their lives, and it gives us a better understanding of how sleep deprivation can be harmful to our

health.

This particular group of people were chosen for the study because Indian Traditional

Industries had the highest amount of work related accidents in 2007 (Ministry of Labour and

Employment 2008, Mistry of Health 2009).

Researchers are trying to uncover what factors were attributing to job injuries. They

gathered information regarding the subjects sleep habits, chemical dependency, as well as

mental and emotional health. Using this information, they were able to separate their findings

into separate categories to see which factors put the employee at a higher risk of getting an injury

on the job.

The scientists hypothesis was that small and medium scale enterprises were more likely

to engage in dangerous and hazardous work, and suffer from occupational accidents and

occupational health problems than large-scale enterprises (Ikeda et al 2002, Kumangi et al 2000,

Hirata et al 1999, The small and medium enterprise agency 2003).

Materials and Methods

Employees in small scale companies in two districts of India were given questionnaires

asking eight questions about their sleep time habits. This is important because it can help

researchers to see what the subjects were doing wrong in regards to their sleeping habits.

The scientists also asked questions about their job, lifestyle, and any possible health

issues. Both men and women were given the questionnaire to see if gender would have any

influence over their findings.

Results

The results were surprisingly low in regards to reported injuries. However, scientists

found that sleep deprivation did lead to more injuries in the work place. In fact, those that

worked the night shift, had a 30 50% higher chance of accidents (Smith et al 1989).

Almost a quarter of those surveyed showed symptoms of insomnia, with the majority of

those subjects being male.

Discussion

The results showed that there was a higher risk of getting injured on the job for those who

were sleep deprived. One of the biggest factors of job related injuries depended on the quality of

sleep the employee received. Factors such as insomnia, difficulty awakening, and awakening

several times through the night, played a role in daytime sleepiness.

The majority of those surveyed, worked in small scale manufacturing facilities. The

results would likely have be more accurate, had the scientists studied equal amount of test

subjects in small, medium, and large scale industries.

Bibliography
Jaiswal, A. (2012). Occupational Injuries related to Sleepiness in Indian Traditional
Industries. Human Biology Review, 248-267.