The memo suggests that reducing the number of hours a worker works will reduce the incidence of on-the-job accidents. While this may be true, there are better solutions to the problem. Instead of relying on employees to sleep more, the company should examine its work schedule to see if it is overly demanding. If the work schedule is too long, it will only exacerbate the worker’s fatigue and cause accidents.

A study of worker fatigue has indicated a clear connection between working long hours and an increased risk of injury. Many factors can contribute to fatigue, such as inadequate rest, sleep deprivation, and job stress. The lack of sleep can prolong or worsen the effects of these factors. As an example, a study by the University of California, Davis, showed that sleep-deprived workers performed more poorly on tasks involving memory and learning, among other skills. In the workplace, a worker with poor memory is less likely to remember and follow safety procedures, such as wearing a hard hat, which may lead to an accident. When a worker is sleep-deprived, the body and mind are affected by sleep deprivation, which can compromise their reflexes and ability to perform tasks safely.

This fatigue can result in increased accidents. A study by the University of Tennessee’s Workplace Safety and Health Institute indicates that, among workers with jobs involving repetitive motion, such as assembly line work, approximately 45% of injuries are caused by fatigue and exhaustion. Another study, this time by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that among workers with jobs involving repetitive tasks, 70% of occupational injuries and illnesses are caused by fatigue. The National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health found that among workers with jobs requiring intense mental focus, 25% of injuries are caused by fatigue. Fatigue can also cause workers to make errors, as it causes them to miscalculate the amount of force needed to perform a task or to behave more carelessly. The danger of fatigue is that once a worker’s fatigue level reaches a certain point, they will not be able to correct their mistake or perform a task safely. They may become too tired to do their job correctly, or they may even fall asleep on the job, causing even more of a safety hazard. Therefore, reducing or eliminating the amount of hours a worker works is not a solution by itself. Instead, Alta should examine the work hours of its workers to determine if they are appropriate to their tasks.

If Alta’s workers are working under demanding conditions, such as long shifts and/or repetitive motions, increasing the hours they work may reduce accidents, but it will not eliminate them entirely. Reducing the hours a worker works, however, will not improve working conditions. By eliminating the employee’s sleep, Alta would be removing one of the body’s natural means of rest and recovery. Instead, Alta should find ways to reduce the physical demands of the jobs of its workers. This may entail changing the tasks that the workers perform, or it may involve reducing the number of workers so that each person has more manageable workload. Alta should also pay attention to employees’ levels of fatigue, and use that information to modify the work schedules as needed. If Alta’s workers are working excessive hours, reducing their hours can help prevent work-related accidents, but it will not eliminate them altogether.