Hello there
Sleep deprivation has been linked to many of the great 'accidents' of
history.
"A 1997 National Sleep Foundation survey discovered that "an alarming
one-third of American adults scored at levels of sleepiness known to
be hazardous." Out of those reporting daytime sleepiness, 40% admit
that it does interfere with their day-to-day activities. For some it
is their social lives that suffer, for others it is their families,
but for most it is their workplace activities that suffer. This type
of sleepiness is a major contributor to inattention, which accounts
for one-sixth of all accidents and countless number of poor decisions.
This type of sleepiness has been cited as a significant contributing
factor to the Chernobyl disaster, the Challenger explosion and
approximately 100,000 automobile accidents during the past year." -
Quote from "If You Don't Snooze, You Lose" -
http://www.quantadynamics.com/research/performancesnooze.htm - website
of Quanta Dynamics Incorporated.
There is your link between 'sleepiness' and the Chernobyl disaster as
well as the Challenger explosion which was not on your list.
From the same website: "The National Commission on Sleep Disorders
estimates that sleep loss alone is costing American businesses $150
billion per year in higher stress, inattention, and diminished
workplace productivity. "
As for aircraft crashes: "Since 1996, the National Transportation
Safety Board has blamed 15 plane crashes, in part, on pilot fatigue."
- Quote from "Air Sleep." - http://www.airsleep.com/wsoa_c.asp?i=8 -
Other concerns brought up in this website are accusations by the
Pilots Union that commercial carriers are pressuring sleep deprived
pilots to fly. A bit of controversy there. You will also find
several additional reports about sleep deprivation.
Here is more.
March 28, 1979 at Three Mile Island, a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
An accident occurred from 4-6 am, in which operators were too fatigued
to notice right away when coolant water was lost. When they did
notice, they were not alert enough to take care of the problem
efficiently.
June 9, 1985 at Davis-Besse, a nuclear power generating reactor at Oak
Harbor, Ohio. At about 1:30am, a control operator continually made the
incorrect operations in response to a shortage of cooler water,
resulting in a potentially serious situation. Disaster was prevented
when the workers for the next shift arrived and took care of the
problem.
April, 1986 at Chernobyl, a nuclear reactor in Ukraine. With critical
automatic safety systems shut off, the reactor began to overheat at
about 1:30am. The sleepy shiftworkers didn't think to turn the
automatic safety systems back on, but instead turned off the cooling
system, causing the reactor to get too hot. In result of the explosion
that occurred, many people were severely affected by the radiation.
January 6, 1986 at the Kennedy Space Center. Before the Columbia space
shuttle was to be launched, an over tired operator pressed the wrong
button, the button that released needed fuel from the shuttle's tank.
Fortunately, the error was detected in time to cancel the launch.
January, 1986 - Poor decisions were made by sleep deprived managers
resulting in the Challenger catastrophe.
August 1988 - Peach Bottom Nuclear Reactor in Pennsylvania was shut
down because workers were found sleeping on the job.
March 24, 1989 - The Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska
had major consequences, including the cost of $41 million to help 800
birds and a few hundred sea otters. Many other animals could not be
helped. An estimated 36,000 birds and 3000 otters died. The total
estimated clean up cost was about $2 billion!
The list of disasters and near disasters above was taken from "Sleep A
to ZZZZZZ" - http://tinyurl.com/fh9d
All of these sleep deprivation stories are taken from the official
investigative reports relating to the specific events. You will find
the references at the various websites.
Here is information from accident litigation reports: "Fatigue was
claimed as the root cause of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the I-40
highway Webbers Falls bridge demolished by a tugboat, the Three Mile
Island nuclear power plant accident, and the I-95 gasoline tanker
accident that melted a bridge near Philadelphia ." - - quote from
"Human Fatigue & Inattention in Transportation Accidents" - website of
Circadian Expert Witness Services.
As for the Titanic disaster, here is a PDF file report called "Errors,
Medicine and the Law" which deals with sleep deprivation and its role
in the sinking of the Titanic, the Challenger explosion and
Chernobyl. The report is long and some flipping back and forth may be
needed to get all three of these events in perspective to the sleep
deprivation aspect of things. The report of course deals with
accidents and causes other than sleep deprivation as well. -
http://assets.cambridge.org/0521806313/sample/0521806313WS.pdf - You
will need Acrobat Reader to access.
You may also be interested in the book "Report on the Loss of the SS
Titanic," first published in 1912 and republished by the British
Public Records Office in 1998. More than 25,000 questions relating to
the Titanic disaster are covered including 'fatigue.'
So the answer to your question is "yes," official disaster reports and
inquiries do in fact mention "sleepiness" as a contributing and often
the major factor in disasters and other accidents.
Search - Google
Terms - sleep deprivation, sleep deprivation +and accidents, sleep
deprivation +and air crashes, sleep deprivation major disasters
Websites used are included within the answer.
If I may clarify anything before you rate the answer, please ask.
Cheers
digsalot |
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