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Driver fatigue has received increased attention during recent years and is now considered to be a major contributor to approximately 15-30% of all crashes. However, little is known about fatigue in city bus drivers. It is hypothesized that city bus drivers suffer from sleepiness, which is due to a combination of working conditions, lack of health and reduced sleep quantity and quality. The overall aim with the current study is to investigate if severe driver sleepiness, as indicated by subjective reports of having to fight sleep while driving, is a problem for city based bus drivers in Sweden and if so, to identify the determinants related to working conditions, health and sleep which contribute towards this. The results indicate that driver sleepiness is a problem for city bus drivers, with 19% having to fight to stay awake while driving the bus 2-3 times each week or more and nearly half experiencing this at least 2-4 times per month. In conclusion, severe sleepiness, as indicated by having to fight sleep during driving, was common among the city bus drivers. Severe sleepiness correlated with fatigue related safety risks, such as near crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Workers often attribute poor sleep to factors at work. Despite the large number of workers with sleep disturbances, there is a lack of consensus on the relationship between the work environment and sleep. The purpose of this systematic review therefore was to conduct a comprehensive evaluation. To this end, we employed standardized methods to systematically locate, review, and tabulate the results of prospective or randomized studies of the impact of work factors on sleep disturbances. From the 7981 articles located in five databases, 24 fulfilled our inclusion criteria and formed the base of the review including meta-analyses of the effect sizes. Results showed that the psychosocial work variables of social support at work, control, and organizational justice were related to fewer sleep disturbances, while high work demands, job strain, bullying, and effort-reward imbalance were related to more future sleep disturbances. Moreover, working a steady shift was associated with disturbances while exiting shift work was associated with less disturbed sleep. We conclude that psychosocial work factors and the scheduling of work have an impact on sleep disturbances and this might be utilized in the clinic as well as for planning work environments. Future research needs to employ better methodology and focus on underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study conducted on 46 subjects to investigate the impact of stress on sleep. It reveals that polysomnographic data of 33 individuals were collected whereas 13 did not completed the full protocol because of minor disease and work schedules. It mentions that all participants were given a self-administered questionnaire based on their social and demographic background such as smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity.

The article discusses a study conducted to know the effects of sleep loss on driving behaviour and subjective sleepiness ratings when driving on a road with a milled rumble strip in the centre of the lane. While comparing the alert condition with the sleep deprived condition, the study results found both the Standard Deviation of Lateral Position (SDLP) and the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) increased for drivers with sleep deprivation.

The article focuses on a survey to find the role of night work, fatigue and sleepiness in traffic accidents. As mentioned, the survey was conducted on traffic and local police officers as well as prosecutors. It informs that the aim of survey was to understand the law which is applicable to prohibit fatigued driving. It also mentions that shift workers including police officers break the law while driving home after a night shift.

The article offers information on a study conducted to find the impact of organizational changes on work stress, sleep, recovery and health. It was speculated that less or disturbed sleep and incomplete recovery initiate the adverse health conditions and consequences of organizational changes which increases the work stress. The study was conducted on Swedish police force using cross sectional questionnaire.

The article examines the relationship between long-term sickness absence and disturbed sleep or fatigue among the workers of Sweden. It talks about poor sleep being prospectively related to mortality, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It presents the study which was conducted using logistic regression analysis for different work environment variables such as disturbed sleep and fatigue.

The article presents information on a study conducted to determine the rate of road crashes due to the sleepiness while driving cars on roads. It mentions that sleep and fatigue while driving are considered as the contributing factors of road accidents as declared by the U.S. National Transportation and Safety Board.

The article presents a study which examines the predictability of subjective and physiological indicators of sleepiness during a vigilance task. Correlation analysis of the electrophysiological and performance data obtained from 13 healthy male volunteers reveals that sleepiness indicators and standard deviation of heart rate were significantly correlated with succeeding performance on the vigilance test.

The article focuses on a study addressing the effects of flexible shift system based on self-determined work hours with respect to sleep/wake complaints and subjective health in police officers. The secondary aim was to analyze the relation between work hour characteristics indicating compressed or difficult rosters and subjective sleep and sleepiness within the flexible shift system group. Results showed that the group did not differ with respect to sleep/wake complaints and subjective health.

Ships typically operate on a 24/7 basis giving rise to a wide variety of working time arrangements and watch keeping schedules. Typically, these can be divided into 2-watch systems (where two watch keepers/teams share the 24-h period) and 3-watch systems (where three watch keepers/teams share the 24-h period). The current study uses the three-process model of alertness regulation to compare these systems in terms of the amount of severe sleepiness that is predicted to take place on watch and the amount of sleep that is predicted to occur while off watch. Separate predictions are calculated for individuals characterised as morning and evening chronotypes. Comparing 2-watch systems, highest levels of severe sleepiness were seen for evening types working 0000–1200 within the 12on12off system. The longest sleep per 24 h day was also found for evening types, but for those working the 1200–0000 watch within the 12on12off system. Total daily sleep duration ranged between 268 and 445 min. However, the picture is complex and the lowest risk of severe sleepiness while on watch is not necessarily correlated with the maximal time available for rest and recuperation when off watch. For 3-watch systems, the "five-and-dime" system (changeover times: 02-07-12-17-22) stands out having the lowest prevalence of severe sleepiness on watch and the longest amount of predicted daily sleep off watch. Considerable differences exist between morning and evening types offering the opportunity for considerable improvement in sleep amount for fixed (but not rotating) systems when individual chronotype is considered in watch scheduling. It is concluded that 3-watch systems, although economically costlier, have clear advantages over 2-watch systems, but that a perfect system that fits all does not exist due to the considerable impact of individual differences related to sleep/wake regulation. • Two-watch systems are worse in terms of sleep of fatigue than three-watch systems. • Diurnal preference considerably affects fatigue levels and the possibilities for sleep. • Rotating schedules are not necessarily worse than fixed schedules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the risks of sleepiness in shift work. He mentions that accident risk is increased due to sleepiness and fatigue. Author has also discussed a scale Karolin's Sleepiness Scale (KSS)2) calculated by electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrooculogram (EOG) for seeing effects of sleepiness during morning, day and night shifts. It is suggested by the author that night shifts have shown rise in sleepiness level.