Questão 645582

Text I

Air traffic controllers asleep on the job…still

Michael J. Breus, Ph.D., in Sleepnewzzz

Here’s some news of workers sleeping on the

job that’s downright scary. A news investigation

produced a story and footage of air traffic controllers

at Westchester County Airport sleeping during their

5 shifts. The video, provided to the news outlet by an

employee in the air traffic control tower at Westchester

Airport, also shows controllers reading and using

laptops and cell phones while on duty. The Federal

Aviation Administration (FAA) bans its controllers from

10 use of cell phones, personal reading material and

electric devices while on duty. Sleeping is prohibited

anywhere in air traffic control towers.

All of these violations are alarming and

dangerous, and pose a serious public safety problem.

15 It is important, I believe, to separate the issue of air

traffic controllers sleeping on the job from their choice

to play with laptops and cell phones when they are

supposed to be working. The video images showing

air traffic controllers slumped over and sleeping

20 at their stations is truly frightening. But the issue of

sleep deprivation among air traffic controllers is a

very real one, and means that some instances of

falling asleep—however dangerous and wrong—is

not entirely the controllers’ fault, or even within their

25 control.

Unfortunately this is not a new problem. We’ve

seen several instances of air traffic controllers falling

asleep on duty in recent months.

In response to these cases, the FAA in 2011

30 revised its regulations for air traffic controllers to

include additional time for rest between shifts. The

FAA:

• Raised the minimum amount of time off between

work shifts to 9 hours from 8 hours

35 • Prohibited air traffic controllers from swapping shifts

without having a minimum of 9 hours off in between

shifts

• Increased supervisor coverage in air traffic control

towers during late night and early morning shifts

40 • Prohibited air traffic controllers from picking up an

overnight shift after a day off

These adjustments are a step in the right direction,

but they don’t go far enough. Managing schedules

for shift workers in these high-pressure jobs where

45 public safety is at stake is too important to settle for

improvements that don’t actually solve the problem.

Shift workers of all types face challenges to getting

enough sleep while managing long hours, overnight

shifts, and changing schedules that fluctuate between

50 day and night. Research shows that:

• People who engage in shift work get less

sleep overall than those of us who work more regular

hours

• Shift workers are at higher risk for illness and

55 chronic disease

• The sleep deprivation associated with shift work

increase the risk of accidents, injuries and mistakes

in high-profile, public-safety related industries like

medicine and law enforcement, as well as air traffic

60 control

In addition to making people more prone to

accidents and injury, sleep deprivation causes a

number of negative effects—both physical and

psychological—that can impair the on-the-job

65 performance of air traffic controllers and other shift

workers. Sleep deprivation:

• Slows reaction time

• Interferes with memory

• Causes fatigue

70 • Compromises judgment

• Impairs the ability to retain new information

I think we can all agree that we don’t want the

people responsible for guiding our planes to be

sluggish, slow-reacting, forgetful, fatigued and of

75 questionable judgment. But that’s exactly what being

sleep deprived can make them!

It’s the FAAs responsibility to create workplace

regulations that enable air traffic controllers to get the

rest they need. This can include not just mandating

80 reasonable time off between shifts, but also giving

controllers breaks during shifts and allowing them

to nap on their breaks. There are also some basic

things that the controllers themselves—or any shift

workers—can do to help avoid sleep deprivation:

85 • Make sure to get adequate rest before a shift begins.

Take a nap before work, if need be.

• Limit your reliance on caffeine. While it’s okay as

an occasional pick-me-up, coffee and caffeinated

beverages are not substitutes for adequate sleep.

90 And caffeine can interfere with your sleep when you

actually want and need to be sleepy.

• Keep a strong and consistent sleep routine both

during your workdays and your days off. It’s not

always easy, but shift workers in particular need to

95 build their off-duty schedules around making sure

they get the sleep they need.

Similarly to the recent changes in health care,

the FAA is moving in the right direction to help its

employees get the sleep they need to do their jobs

100 safely. As this latest incident at Westchester Airport

confirms, there is a great deal of work still to be done.

And it’s in everyone’s best—and safest—interest that

progress continues to be made.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD

The Sleep Doctor™

www.thesleepdoctor.com

Available at: <http://www.theinsomniablog.com/the_in-

somnia_blog/2012/03/air-traffic-controllers-asleep-on-

-the-jobstill.html> Adapted. Retrieved on: July 25, 2012.

According to the author of Text I, it has been proven scientifically that workers who have jobs that demand they work in shifts