Most Americans dread loosing an hour of sleep when we “leap foward” each spring during the switch to daylight savings time. Now a new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology shows that not only do we loose lose an hour of sleep, the physiological and psychological adjustment that our body goes through can pose dangerous consequences for those who work in hazardous environments. After looking at 24 years of data about mine workers, researchers noted that there were more injuries on the Mondays following the switch to daylight savings time. In addition there was a 68% increase in lost work days due to these injuries. The researchers did not find any significant changes in the number and severity of workplace injuries on the Mondays after the switch back standard time, when people gained an hour of sleep. This shows that even an hour of sleep can have drastic effects on human behavior. Also, based on this study, it’s probably a good idea to refrain from performing dangerous job duties following the daylight savings time change. [via Medical News Today]
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Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.