Optimizing Non-work Time for Better Safety and Health at Work

Abstract

Safety and health at work are to be achieved through improving work conditions both quantitatively and qualitatively. To further upgrade the quality of working life, we need to optimize non-work time, combined with improved work circumstances. The most common timeframe of non-working hours is the interval from the end of the workday to the start of the next workday. As stipulated in the European Union’s Working Time Directives, a sufficient duration of rest after work should be provided on a daily basis. Studies demonstrate that among activities during the daily rest period, adequate sleep serves a critical role in fatigue recovery, safety on the job, and overall good health. On a weekly basis, weekends can be an essential time period for recovery from fatigue accumulated during weekdays and preparation to the next week. It is impossible, however, to fully compensate sleep deficit with a longer duration of sleep by getting up later on weekends; on the contrary, excessive sleep on the weekends may cause increased sleepiness and fatigue up to the following Wednesday. From a long-term perspective, a prolonged period of short or poor sleep is associated with elevated risk of health disorders and disability retirement. Better health and safety during working hours will require protected periods of non-working hours and better sleep. This novel challenge is a task shared by authorities, workplaces, and workers themselves.