Posted By Kirsty Davies2 Before you start, please take it serious; Is there any approved guide available which recommends ideal daily sleeping times for people of different ages?

Posted By Descarte The National Sleep Foundation in the United States maintains that seven to nine hours of sleep for adult humans is optimal and that sufficient sleep benefits alertness, memory and problem solving, and overall health, as well as reducing the risk of accidents. The table your requesting can be found here: http://www.sleepfoundati...t_Sleep_Work_for_You.htm

Posted By Dave Merchant It also varies a lot with age. AFAIK there's nothing in law about sleep per se, only the idea of "rest" within the WTD (nobody says you have to be asleep during your rest period). The 9-hr thing may be optimal, but as to the question of "minimum" that's a lot harder to answer. Are we talking every night? One or two? What tasks are they doing afterwards? You could pull an all-nighter and still cope at a quiet reception desk, but I wouldn't want to be flying a plane.

Posted By JimE Kirsty, I believe it's just one hour more please lol JimE

Posted By Dave Merchant http://www.sleepnet.com/depriv.htm

Posted By Kieran J Duignan Kirsty You've raised a more complex issue than meets the eye. Factors include: 1. Quality of sleep influences its effect rather tnan quantity alone 2. Circadian rhythms are roughtly in 25-hour cycles and are affected both by changes in patterns of shift work and travel; some people simply can't biologically adjust to disruptions arising from changes in patterns of shift work. 3. Interpersonal differences in circadian rhythms affect the best possible length of sleep for any individual. 4. General medical prac;titioners vary greatly in their undrestanding of sleep deprivation: I know someone who suffered enormously for 41 years from the age of 19, and after treatment at the age of 61 now feels as energetic as he was when he was 16. Monks and Folkard wrote a good, research-based guide to sleep and managing circadian rhythms from an occupational health standpoint; it was published by Taylor and Francis.

Posted By Andy Brazier There is a very interesting book by Sara Mednick called "Take a Nap! Change your life." It talks about how napping during the day to supplement night-time sleep is part of human nature. It makes specific reference to health and safety, including the role of fatigue in the Exxon Valdez accident. A few snippets. In 1950's studies were done where subjects were kept in small flats without windows or clocks. After a short transitional phase people would sleep six to seven hours at a time that would represent night and roughly 12 hours later would return to bed for a shorter time. It is suggested that this is a natural sleep pattern. Before the light bulb was invented adults would typically get as much as 10 hours rest during the average weeknight. Today the average (in USA I presume) is 6.7 hours. I know this does not answer the question, but the suggestion is that taking naps is a good way of making up for the sleep deficit created by modern living. You can get the book from Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/...&creativeASIN=0761142908

Posted By GregW Agree this is a very complex and potentially NASTY area to get into. One point to add, the time take to get to and from work. As we are all aware employers are liable for journey claims and if it can be proven that the accident was due to work related fatigue then your liable (this is a clearly established legal precedent in Aus and can but presume likewise in the UK). It is also advisable to ensure that there are questions asked regrading ability to perform shift work, including factors such as; is it a rotating shift pastern or permanent night shift. At pre-employment/routine medicals, following work injury and/or extended absence from work for any reason. This information should then be considered during shift planning, and of course documented. The above was provided by company legal council to my firm in Aus at a presentation on the aging workforce and as previously indicated this greatly increases risk and the inclusion of this info as part of shift planning is a good method of risk treatment. Hope this helps and if you have any other q's feel free to ask. Greg

Posted By Kirsty Davies2 Thankyou everyone. There were some very useful information.