Wenatex Blog :: Healthy Sleep for a Better Life

At Wenatex, we have been banging on for a long time about fatigue being a contributing factor in accidents.

Here is yet another case in point:  In an article I read today about the Shen Neng 1, the Magistrates Court found that the reason for the oil spill is that “the crew neglected to change course” which wasn’t helped by the fact that “the first mate had only slept for a little over two-and-a-half hours in the previous day-and-a-half”.

Another case that comes to mind is the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska some years ago. It was shown that fatigue was a factor as it was reported that “the staff were not given their mandatory 6 hours off duty prior to the start of their 12-hour shift” during which time the incident occurred. 

I guess we will just have to keep banging on… 

If you would like to read the article I referred to about the Shen Neng 1 findings, it can be found at http://www.news.com.au/national/fatigue-a-factor-in-sheng-neng-1-incident-australian-transport-safety-bureau/story-e6frfkvr-1225854018414.

The function of sleep is yet to be fully understood but new research has shown that for fire ants, lack of rest for the workers seems to ensure that queens get to live a long and comfortable life. 

Queen fire ants get more than 9 hours sleep each day and it appears that they dream during REM sleep. On the other hand, worker ants get only 4 hours 48 minutes of sleep each day ensuring that 80% of the workforce is awake and active at any one time.

It appears that as a result of their comfortable lifestyles, queen fire ants can live for several years where hardworking sleep deprived worker ants are live only for a few months.

There is a lot we can learn from the insect world, don’t you think?

Check out the full article (written by the BBC about a study in the United States) at http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8100000/8100876.stm