The Switch to Daylight Savings Time Results in More Workplace Accidents

Researchers have reported that the switch to Daylight Savings Time (DST), moving clocks forward one hour ahead, is dangerous to the health of workers. Today marks yet another year when the US law mandates moving clocks one hour.

"...two researchers from Michigan State University have conducted a research project that could well contain the warning “Beware of the days after the change to Daylight Savings Time,” the second Sunday in March when an hour of sleep is lost as clocks jump ahead.

Using U.S. Department of Labor and Mine Safety and Health Administration data, Christopher Barnes and David Wagner, both doctoral candidates studying industrial and organizational psychology, found that the number of workplace accidents spikes after Daylight Savings Time changes every March.

On the other hand, they found no significant increase in workplace accidents or sleep loss when the clocks were set back an hour in November.

In two separate studies, they found that the March switch to Daylight Savings Time resulted in 40 minutes less sleep for American workers, a 5.7 percent increase in workplace injuries and nearly 68 percent more work days lost to injuries."

Click here to read the entire article.

See also, "Changing to Daylight Saving Time Cuts Into Sleep and Increases Workplace Injuries," Christopher M. Barnes, PhD, and David T. Wagner, PhD, Michigan State University; Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 94, No. 5

"Daylight Saving Time Transitions and Road Traffic Accidents", Tuuli Lahti et al., Journal of Environmental and Public Health, Volume 2010 (2010), Article ID 657167, 3 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2010/657167


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• Daylight Saving Time Is Bad For Worker Health (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Workplace Accidents and Daylight Savings Time (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)