An overview of sleepiness and accidents

The association between neurobiologically‐based sleepiness/fatigue and human‐error related accidents is reviewed and it concludes that fatigue contributes to human error and accidents in technology‐rich, industrialized societies in terms of human, environmental and economic impacts.

Abstract

This paper reviews the association between neurobiologically-based sleepiness/fatigue and human-error related accidents. It concludes that fatigue contributes to human error and accidents in technology-rich, industrialized societies in terms of human, environmental and economic impacts. The cultural utilization of time as expressed in 24-h work operations, combined with the widespread use of automation, will continue to escalate in the next century, further increasing the risks of fatigue-related accidents, as more people conduct vigilance-based activities at times other than the traditional daytime work hours. Fatigue management and prevention of fatigue-related catastrophes need to become a sustained priority for government, industries, labour, and the public. Scientific data are urgently needed on the most likely areas in which sleepiness-related performance failures contribute to accidents, and on the effectiveness of a wide range of potentially useful countermeasures.