Kali Solutions – Why Sleep Isn’t a Luxury, It’s a Safety Strategy

Fatigue impairs judgement as much as alcohol, yet shift workers in highways rarely get the recovery time they need. One consultancy is reframing sleep not as downtime, but as critical safety equipment.

In the highways sector, we often talk about safety in terms of equipment, procedures and compliance. We invest in training, risk assessments and technology because we understand that protecting people must always come first.

But there’s another safety factor that deserves just as much attention – sleep.

Much of our industry’s work takes place when the rest of the country is asleep. Night shifts, changing schedules and extended working hours are often unavoidable, yet they place unique demands on the people who keep our roads safe and operational.

Fatigue isn’t simply about feeling tired. It affects concentration, reaction times, decision-making and situational awareness – all of which are critical when working in live traffic environments, operating machinery and making decisions that keep colleagues and the travelling public safe.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identifies fatigue as a major workplace risk, estimating that it contributes to around 20% of accidents on major roads, while costing the UK between £115 million and £240 million annually through work-related accidents. Fatigue has also been shown to impair reaction time, vigilance, memory and judgement – factors that no organisation can afford to overlook. These risks are particularly relevant in sectors such as highways, where work is often undertaken at night, under pressure and in safety-critical environments.

The highways industry has rightly become increasingly focused on fatigue management over recent years. The Health in Construction Leadership Group (HCLG) recognises fatigue as a significant safety risk and encourages organisations to move beyond compliance by embedding fatigue risk management into everyday operational planning. Their guidance promotes practical measures such as intelligent shift scheduling, effective supervision, encouraging workers to report fatigue without fear of blame, and ensuring adequate opportunities for recovery between shifts.

This reflects a wider shift in thinking across occupational health and safety.

The publication of ISO 45003:2021 – Psychological Health and Safety at Work reinforced that protecting workers means considering psychosocial risks alongside physical hazards. The standard encourages organisations to identify workplace factors—including stress from excessive workloads, inadequate recovery time, shift work, working away from home & the impact of that on quality of rest periods, fatigue and organisational culture—that may negatively affect both psychological health and safe performance. Rather than treating wellbeing as a standalone initiative, ISO 45003 places it firmly within an organisation’s overall health and safety management system, alongside ISO 45001.

This is particularly relevant for the highways sector.

When workers are well rested, they are better able to assess risk, communicate effectively, remain alert in dynamic environments and make sound decisions under pressure. Good quality sleep supports not only individual health, but also team performance, operational resilience and ultimately, safer outcomes on site.

Perhaps the conversation needs to evolve.

Instead of asking, “How do we manage fatigue?”, perhaps leaders should be asking:

“How do we create the conditions that allow our people to recover properly?”

That means looking beyond hours worked. It means considering shift design, workplace culture, supervisor behaviours, education around sleep hygiene, and giving people permission to speak up when fatigue becomes a risk.

The best organisations already understand that wellbeing and safety are inseparable.

The PPE we issue protects people during the shift.

Quality sleep protects them before it begins.

As the highways industry continues to strive for zero harm, perhaps one of the most powerful safety interventions isn’t another piece of equipment or another procedure—but ensuring our people have the opportunity to recover, recharge and return to work ready to perform safely.

Visit Kali Consultancy Solutions Ltd for more information around wellbeing in the workplace, sleep and its impact on safety and performance, as well as clinically tested solutions for better sleep for shift workers.