Dr. Sandra Dorman is a Full Professor in Human Kinetics in the Faculty of Health at Laurentian University and the Director of the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH). Her expertise is in physiology/pharmacology and her research program focuses on health promotion and disease prevention in the occupational setting. Her recent work has centered around fatigue-mitigation in physically-demanding workforces with high incidences of fatigue-related injuries (i.e. occupational athletes).
Description: The 24-hr workplace schedule is becoming the global norm. Humans are not well adapted to work outside of nocturnal sleep patterns. This lecture will review our understanding of normal sleep patterns and how standard shift schedules impact a person’s sleep. Dr. Dorman will discuss the importance of protecting sleep time, particularly in light of high-risk tasks (e.g. driving fatigued) and opportunities for workplaces to support workers and prevent fatigue-related accidents.