If you start to yawn while reading this, make yourself a cuppa and pay attention!
National STOP Snoring week comes to its conclusion tomorrow, and it highlights potentially wider issues that may impact on the work place.
And where there are employees to be looked after, HR is sure to follow, with a pillow or sick note?
There are many symptoms caused by sleep deprivation, insomnia or acutely disturbed sleep, but in the work place the most important aspect would probably be health and safety issues where machinery is used, or a decline in productivity, as the life slowly starts to seep out of you...those with insomnia might testify to that?
Marianne Downey, director and co-founder of the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association (BSSAA), says: "With more than 80 known sleep disorders, from restless legs syndrome and sleep apnoea to sleep walking or narcolepsy - where people can literally fall asleep while driving or playing sport - many employers find it easier to dismiss sleep problems as skiving rather than examine what's going on."
Downey recommends that employees with acute sleeping problems explain to their HR department or to their manager why they are so tired at work and. A GP letter may be required in some cases as proof that the problem is being adressed.
"If a colleague's sleepiness is a health and safety issue because of the work you do, I'd argue that whistleblowing is far preferable to worrying about whether your friend's insomnia is going to do real damage," she says.
There are a few snore tests you can take at http://www.britishsnoring.co.uk - fun for the whole family...
