It is vital for police officers\u2019 safety that they get enough sleep, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said, as a new fatigue risk management toolkit is launched.<\/p>\n
Worryingly, the last National Police Wellbeing Survey found that 45% of officers were getting fewer than six hours\u2019 sleep a night. Nearly 70% of respondents said they had high levels of fatigue, and 28.9% reported \u2018very high levels\u2019 of fatigue.<\/p>\n
Fatigue affects work performance, increases the risk of accidents and injuries, and impacts people\u2019s long-term health. Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS), has responded by launching a new online Fatigue Risk Management Toolkit (www.oscarkilo.org.uk\/fatigue-risk-management-guidance-policing<\/a>).<\/p>\n It can be used to develop a force fatigue risk policy, or simply when dealing with the challenges around sleepiness and fatigue in policing.<\/p>\n The kit includes sections on the factors that lead to fatigue, spotting the signs of fatigue, achieving healthy sleep practices, and links to training.<\/p>\n South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said he welcomed the toolkit: \u201cI don\u2019t know if this is going to be a black-and-white moment where this problem is finally solved, but it will help with awareness and education, and encourage better sleep practices.\u201d<\/p>\n Steve said that high levels of fatigue in policing were highly worrying, considering that frontline officers and detectives may spend hours driving every day.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cOur colleagues in traffic and firearms, if they\u2019re single-crewed, they could be driving for up to 12 hours. If they\u2019re not getting enough sleep, there is a massive risk there.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen officers are expected to use legitimate force, when they are expected to write really long files, they’ve got to be sharp because the risks they face are enormous.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can be a particular challenge for people working shifts, because your sleep patterns are all over the place \u2013 some people grab a few hours\u2019 sleep here and there.<\/p>\n \u201cMy message to the public would be to have some compassion if you see a cop having a coffee. We should be encouraging cops to take breaks, to start to break this culture.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, our officers are highly skilled at what they do. But ultimately everybody needs proper rest.\u201d<\/p>\n