1. Fatigue Improvement Programme
A SAFER, HIGHER PERFORMING WORKFORCE
World Sleep Day
Friday 15th March 2019
The Fatigue Improvement Programme team are pleased to share with you a briefing on World Sleep Day, which mainly focuses on why we sleep, and the importance of sleep. The briefing links to the current national fatigue improvement programme.
Throughout the pack, there are opportunities for discussion points highlighted in the relevant slides.
Please note fact sheets and safety hour content has been included and can be used in isolation to the pack or as required within your business area.
Fatigue Improvement Programme
A SAFER RAILWAY
FOR OUR PASSENGERS

2. Fatigue Improvement Programme - World Sleep Day
World Sleep Day® is March 15, 2019
World Sleep Day® is designed to raise awareness of sleep as a human privilege that is often compromised by the habits of modern life.
World Sleep Day is an annual event, intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep and aims to lessen the burden of sleep problems on society through better prevention and management of sleep disorders.
Future date will be: Friday, March 13, 2020.
Who created World Sleep Day?
The annual awareness event was started by a group of dedicated healthcare providers and members of the medical community working and studying in the area of sleep medicine and research. The goal of the first World Sleep Day was to bring together sleep healthcare providers to discuss and distribute sleep information around the world.
The first co-chairs of World Sleep Day were Liborio Parrino, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology at Parma University, Italy and Antonio Culebras, MD, Professor of Neurology, Upstate Medical University, and Consultant, The Sleep Center, Community General Hospital, Syracuse, New York, USA.
Why was World Sleep Day created?
Time and time again, sleep medicine professionals and researchers came up against the belief that sleep was not important enough in personal health and well-being to be a priority. That coupled with society’s 24/7 flow, the founders of this awareness event aim to celebrate the importance of healthy sleep.

3. Fatigue Improvement Programme - World Sleep Day
At Network Rail, we recognise the importance of sleep. Sleep is also very closely linked with Fatigue. Network Rail has a national Fatigue Improvement Programme, looking at managing fatigue risk of our entire workforce, and those working on our infrastructure, assets and systems.
In this pack, the Fatigue Improvement Programme team have included information about the importance of sleep, some discussion topics, safety hour material and fact sheets.
Please use this pack in full or part of the pack, to cascade the messages as required.
Key messages:
Network Rail cares about managing your fatigue risk.
Network Rail wants to provide a safer railway for our passengers, and a safer, higher performing workforce.
Start discussions with your teams around sleep and fatigue to raise awareness.
Create an environment for individuals to speak up about sleep and fatigue, to speak honestly about how they feel.
See slide for key messages to continue throughout the briefing pack. Where possible, we should be encouraging the business to have conversations about sleep / fatigue, to start to create a safe environment for discussions.

4. Fatigue Improvement Programme - Why do we sleep?
We know it helps:
Boost physical repair
Mental recovery and learning
Restore energy
Improve mood
Improve concentration, focus and creativeness
Reduce our risk of many diseases
Discussion points
• Have you noticed a change in your mood or energy levels as a result of not getting enough sleep?
Why we sleep?
As stated in the slide, we know it helps the above points.
Start a discussion with the group to understand if individuals have previously noticed a change in mood, energy levels or alertness as a result of a lack of sleep.

5. Fatigue Improvement Programme - Why we sleep
Locks in Information -
Restores information that wasn’t ingrained during the day
Provides time for memory building and brain cleaning (Toxic waste removal)
Preserves important memories and ditches those of less importance
Sleep makes remote associations between pieces of information that our conscious daytime brains see as separate. In fact, people were 33% more likely to make creative connections after quality sleep.
Cerebral spinal fluid whisks away waste products, such as toxic proteins that can lead to Alzheimers and dementia.
Sleep has a huge impact on fatigue. Sleep is very important to human beings and it can take up to 2 to 3 nights to recover from even on nights poor sleep. This is called sleep debt.
Sleep can ….
Enables the body and brain to recover from the day
Provides time for memory building and brain cleaning (Toxic waste removal)
Heart rate and breathing slow and your muscles and organs “Chill out”
Your blood pressure and body temperature reduces
You become paralysed (with the exception of eyes and breathing)
Growth hormones are pumped around to build cells and repair damage
Enables the regulation of leptin and ghrelin (hunger hormones)
This slide references a key book called Why We Sleep. We as a programme team have found this book very interesting, and would recommend it as a good read.
Did you know: In the deepest stage of sleep, the part of your brain that’s responsible for relaying nerve impulses throughout the spinal cord sends a message to turn off motor neurons, causing temporary paralysis.

6. Fatigue Improvement Programme - Did you know?
Approximately 7/10 people say they experience sleep problems but only 1/8 people are diagnosed with a medical condition affecting their sleep
We should aim for 7-9 hours sleep per day
50% of people in UK get less than 6 hours sleep every night which over time can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes five times
Sleeping less than 6 hours makes it more difficult to learn and remember new things the next day
People who complain their bed is uncomfortable sleep on average one less hour per night
Did you know facts on sleep, provided by the Health and Wellbeing team.
Provide an opportunity for others to add in key facts about fatigue if they wish.

7. Fatigue Improvement Programme - Common things that affect sleep
Shift patterns – affect the body’s natural sleep / wake cycle
Stimulants (caffeine, alcohol) – prevents the body winding down
Stress – releases hormones like adrenaline which keep us wound up
Temperature – too hot or cold puts our body under stress
Light – stimulates our brain and prevents deep sleep
Mattress / bed quality – prevents us finding a relaxing position
Being overweight – more likely to develop a dangerous condition called sleep apnoea (ap-nee-a)

8. Fatigue Improvement Programme - Common things that affect sleep
Why sleep is important. Sleep plays an essential role in your health and wellbeing throughout your life. Getting enough good quality sleep has many benefits, including protecting your physical and mental health, quality of life and personal safety.
Sleep environment
Darken the room – use blackout blinds
Set a cooler temperature
Find a mattress and pillow that you find comfortable
Make sure your bed is big enough
Use scented oils to help relaxation
Sleep Routine
Have a warm bath or shower 30 minutes before bed
Avoid using the TV, laptop, phone, tablet, 30 minutes before bed
Stay out of the bedroom until you feel sleepy
Write a to do list of things you may have on your mind
Wake up at the same time every day
Discussion points
Can you create a better sleeping environment?
Can you develop a sleep routine?
Choosing from the list in the previous slide, we would like you to focus on and discuss sleep environment and sleep routines.
The discussion does not need to be personal if an individual does not wish to share such information, but can be a generic conversation about how to improve your quality of sleep.

9. How much sleep do you need?
Fatigue Improvement Programme - Are you managing your sleep and fatigue?
Your sleep requirements change with age! Children and adolescents need more sleep than adults.
But, interestingly, older adults need about the same amount of sleep as younger adults: seven to nine hours of sleep per night.
Unfortunately, many older adults often get less sleep than they need. One reason is that they often have more trouble falling asleep.
A study of adults over 65 found that 13 per cent of men and 36 per cent of women take more than 30 minutes to fall asleep. There are many possible explanations for these changes.
Older adults may produce and secrete less melatonin, the hormone that promotes sleep.
They may also be more sensitive to, and may awaken because of, changes in their environment, such as noise.
Discussion points
• How do you ensure you have a good night sleep?
• Are you getting enough sleep every night?
How much sleep do you need?
To start to get your group / individuals thinking about getting enough sleep, start discussions to identify who gets their recommended amount of sleep per night.
This is a good opportunity to ask individuals to consider if they can make changes to their sleep pattern to encourage a longer sleep.

10. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Join the movement
Want to find out more about sleep and fatigue?
Network Rail has a national Fatigue Improvement Programme, looking at managing fatigue risk of our entire workforce, and those working on our infrastructure, assets and systems. Providing a safer railway for our passengers, and a safer, higher performing workforce.
Join the movement:
Fatigue Improvement Programme on Safety Central:
 Central repository of all current programme information.
Join our Yammer Page:
Fatigue Improvement Programme Yammer Page
We share daily fatigue facts and information to raise awareness of fatigue.
The fatigue improvement programme will continue to share information about sleep and fatigue throughout the duration of the programme (up until October 2022).
We hope you can join our Yammer page to find out more.

11. There are many other topics linked to sleep and fatigue.
Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about sleep and fatigue?
Safety Hours
The importance of sleep
Fatigue and how it affects you
Eating right for alertness
Fatigue factsheets
Caffeine, dehydration, difference between fatigue and tiredness, sleep hygiene, and many more.
The fatigue improvement programme team has also included some safety hour and fact sheet information in this pack for you to use within this briefing, or separately (as required).
Should you have any questions, please direct them to
There are many other topics linked to sleep and fatigue.
Find out more in the following slides.

12. Fatigue Improvement Programme
A SAFER, HIGHER PERFORMING WORKFORCE
World Sleep Day – Safety Hours
Friday 15th March 2019
Fatigue Improvement Programme
A SAFER RAILWAY
FOR OUR PASSENGERS

13. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

14. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

15. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

16. Fatigue Improvement Programme
A SAFER, HIGHER PERFORMING WORKFORCE
World Sleep Day – Factsheets
Friday 15th March 2019
Fatigue Improvement Programme
A SAFER RAILWAY
FOR OUR PASSENGERS

17. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

18. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

19. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

20. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

21. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

22. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

23. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

24. Fatigue Improvement Programme – Where can I find more information about the importance of sleep?

25. Fatigue Improvement Programme
A SAFER, HIGHER PERFORMING WORKFORCE
World Sleep Day
Friday 15th March 2019
Fatigue Improvement Programme
A SAFER RAILWAY
FOR OUR PASSENGERS