Hospitality named as the UK’s ‘most sleep deprived profession’
Based on results from wordwide sleep census
New research from bed manufacturer Sealy UK reveals hospitality workers are turning up for work sleep deprived, impacting productivity, mood and even their safety.
The firm is now pushing for a major initiative appealing to managers to take this often overlooked issue more seriously, working alongside HR expert, Kurt Russell to produce a common sense guide for bosses to better manage sleep deprivation of staff.
The awareness campaign is based on data from Sealy’s recent worldwide sleep census, revealing that 86% of hospitality workers admitting they could function better at work if they slept better.
This places the sector as the most sleep-deprived profession in the UK, coming above banking, construction, retail and transport.
One in 25 people admitted to falling asleep whilst at work, with a more worrying 11% having suffered a recent accident such as a trip or slip due to tiredness.
Neil Robinson, ‘sleep expert’ at Sealy, said: “Lack of sleep – and the subsequent fallout the next day – can be caused by a wide range of legitimate medical conditions, from stress, to mental health problems or respiratory disease.
“Even at the less severe end of the spectrum, there’s usually an underlying health issue causing sleeplessness. However, it’s often treated as an incidental issue by bosses, with a ‘pull yourself together’ attitude. This is not helpful for employees, especially when there are some potentially severe consequences of turning up exhausted.”
