Is Daylight Savings a Safety Hazard?

When clocks turn back one hour on November 5^th and we “fall back”, we all gain an hour of sleep! But according to a US study there is an increase in workplace injuries and more workdays missed due to injuries on the first Monday following daylight savings.

According to Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) when we put our clocks forward or back traffic accidents increase as well.

Furthermore, pedestrians are more than three times as likely to be struck by a car after 6 pm the week after the time change. Why? Because it’s suddenly darker in the evening commute and drivers focus can be temporarily diminished, putting pedestrians at increased risk.

It stands to reason that any change to sleep patterns and schedules will affect workers’ focus and attention. Which could mean that, for example, shift workers may be at higher risk of injuring themselves or others when operating vehicles and/or lifting devices the week following a time change. This is especially true in the Spring when we lose an hour of sleep, but the time change itself at either time of year is a catalyst potential increased injury.

For health & safety managers, extra communication and assigning extra safety monitoring may be useful while everyone in the workplace adjusts to the time change.

You can find more insights and tips on workplace safety during seasonal time change from the Canadian Centre of Occupational Health & Safety here https://www.ccohs.ca/newsletters/hsreport/issues/2011/02/ezine.html#hsreport-inthenews