It was suspected that fatigue was a large contributing factor to injuries taking place on our roads, at workplaces and in our homes, but the findings in a recent study on fatigue commissioned by the Saskatchewan Safety Council confirm that.
With more than 1 in 5 people acknowledging that they experienced unintentional dozing while at work at least once per week, and 14% reporting having nodded off while driving during their commute home at least once per week, the report speaks to a serious risk of fatigue-related injury.
According to Ryan Jacobson, CEO of the Saskatchewan Safety Council, the findings of the recent study on Saskatchewan employee fatigue are alarming.
“The Council was asked if there was research available to demonstrate if fatigue was a problem in Saskatchewan, and when we could not find any, we commissioned the study,” commented Jacobson. “Now we have data that can be used by employers, human resource departments or safety professionals to provide guidance in the development of education. They can review operational policies and create procedures to reduce fatigue-related risk.”
To assist Saskatchewan employers, educators, and workforce representatives establish a baseline with which to evaluate their internal risk of fatigue, the Saskatchewan Safety Council commissioned the Saskatchewan Employee Fatigue and Lifestyle Study.
The Saskatchewan Safety Council, a registered charity that focuses on injury prevention in the province, partnered with experts at Solaris Fatigue Management to complete the research and analysis with financial sponsorship from WorkSafe Saskatchewan, which is the partnership between the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety and the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board.
The survey data, intended to provide baseline metrics that could be used to add to the understanding of how significant fatigue is as a risk factor, was collected using an online survey. The goal was to illuminate personal fatigue-related risk factors and their consequences, based on current sleep, work, and lifestyle factors.
The survey ran from September to December 2025. Analysis of the 1,794 total responses representing 15 different industry sectors took place in 2026. Participants represented a wide range of roles including front-line workers, supervisors, managers, and professional staff. This broad representation highlighted that fatigue is not confined to a single occupational group; rather, it affects employees across multiple job functions and sectors.
Fatigue may be a much larger problem than many people previously believed. 68% of workers identified the need for sleep aids with 37% taking prescription or over-the-counter sleep medications 3 or more times a week.
The general recommended sleep requirement for an adult is 7 to 9 hours per night. This study found 47% of daytime workers reported regularly getting less than 6 hours of rest per night and 45% of shift workers reported having less than 5 hours of sleep on average. While a consistent lack of sleep contributes to many negative health outcomes, this study focuses on the immediate escalated risks of road collisions, workplace or at-home injury.
Fatigue is known to reduce alertness, delay reaction time and affect decision-making, similar to the consequences of having a high blood alcohol content. When these factors reach the roadway, or a workplace where many high-risk situations can, and often arise, they can lead to devastating outcomes.
Without credible education or guidance, people may turn to unreliable sources of information, including online advice, unproven products, or social media recommendations. This can lead to ineffective or potentially harmful coping strategies such as excessive caffeine use, reliance on sleep medications, or adoption of unverified sleep practices. The findings note that 27% of workers choose to self-medicate fatigue symptoms during a week and that 54% of shift workers regularly exceed safe caffeine dose levels.
“To start reducing the risk, we can start by raising awareness and providing education,” said Jacobson. “In the survey, 85% of workers reported that they had never received training or education on fatigue management. That is something we can change.”
The full report and results of the study are available at https://www.sasksafety.org/