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Employers can reduce fatigue-related risk around a clock change by preparing workers, reviewing staffing and demanding tasks, protecting opportunities for rest, and encouraging people to report fatigue and near misses. The time change does not produce a proven, uniform rise in workplace injuries: evidence includes a historically bounded study of mining injuries after the spring change, while other frequently cited statistics concern traffic or shift work more generally.
Why a clock change can matter at work
Spring daylight saving time (DST) moves clocks forward and removes an hour from the night; the fall change moves clocks back and adds an hour. Either can shift sleep timing and disrupt circadian rhythms, the body’s roughly 24-hour timing system. The spring transition may be especially difficult when workers need to wake earlier by the clock before their sleep schedule has adjusted. NIOSH says adaptation can take about a week.
Fatigue matters most when a job depends on sustained attention, quick reactions, short-term memory, or sound judgment. NIOSH’s Fatigue and Work guidance identifies these as functions fatigue can impair. In safety-sensitive work, that can make a familiar task more hazardous even if the worker is experienced.
What the evidence does—and does not—show
NIOSH’s 2022 bulletin reports that U.S. fatal traffic accidents have been shown to increase by 6% around the transition to daylight saving time, with the highest risk in the morning. That figure concerns road crashes, not workplace injuries.
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A peer-reviewed 2009 study by Barnes and Wagner examined U.S. mining injury data from 1983 through 2006. It found more injuries and greater injury severity on Mondays after the spring-forward transition. That result is specific to the mining data and period studied; it does not establish that injuries rise across all industries, in later years, or after the fall change.
Other figures sometimes cited in discussions of fatigue describe different risks, not effects caused by changing clocks. OSHA’s hazards overview associates accident and injury rates with shifts (18% greater during evening shifts and 30% greater during night shifts than day shifts), and reports a 37% increased injury risk associated with working 12 hours per day. It also summarizes a 16.2% increase in monthly motor vehicle crash risk for each extended shift scheduled in a month, based on a survey of medical residents, and cites an estimated $136.4 billion annual employer cost from fatigue-related, health-related lost productive work time. These findings address shift work, long hours, commuting, or lost productivity—not the clock change itself.
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NIOSH’s 2016 guidance notes that only a few studies had examined ways to cope with the transition and that many questions about the best strategies remained. The steps below are official practical guidance, not interventions established in trials to prevent clock-change injuries.
Plan around the transition as an employer
Prepare workers before the clocks change
NIOSH’s Daylight Saving: Suggestions to help workers adapt to the time change recommends communicating about possible sleep disruption and safety risks roughly a week and a half before the transition. Explain that workers may feel less alert for several days and identify the normal route for raising fatigue concerns or reporting near misses. NIOSH suggests gradually adjusting sleep, meals, activity, and light exposure beginning about three days before the change.
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Review work and rest arrangements
OSHA’s prevention guidance recommends reviewing staffing, workload, work hours, and absences, and checking whether workers have adequate opportunities for rest breaks and nighttime sleep. Look at the actual work planned for the adjustment period, rather than assuming every job or team faces the same exposure.
- Identify tasks with high physical demand, sustained concentration, or serious consequences if an error occurs.
- Where feasible, reschedule or reduce demanding physical or mental work during the adjustment period, particularly when fatigue could increase the task’s hazards. NIOSH presents this as an option to consider, not a universal scheduling rule.
- Check whether coverage, overtime, or an absence could leave workers with inadequate recovery time.
- Consider a fatigue risk management plan as an ongoing control, rather than treating fatigue as a one-week seasonal issue.
Train supervisors and account for changing light
OSHA recommends education and training about fatigue hazards and symptoms. Supervisors should know how to respond when someone reports fatigue, and workers should be able to raise the concern without treating it as a personal failing. Review outdoor work and commuting conditions too: NIOSH notes that the fall change can move a late-afternoon commute from daylight into darkness.
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Steps workers can take before and after the change
Shift routines gradually
Starting about three days before the change, NIOSH suggests shifting sleep, waking, meals, exercise, and light exposure by 15–20 minutes each day in the direction of the upcoming transition. For spring, move them earlier; for fall, move them later. Prioritize adequate sleep before the transition and stay alert to how you feel for several days afterward.
| Transition | Clock change | Gradual routine adjustment | Practical consideration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring-forward | Clocks move forward; one hour is lost. | Shift sleep, waking, meals, exercise, and light exposure earlier by 15–20 minutes a day, starting about three days beforehand, following NIOSH guidance. | Sleep timing may need to move earlier to match the clock. Pay attention to alertness, especially during early starts. |
| Fall-back | Clocks move back; one hour is added. | Shift the same routines later by 15–20 minutes a day, starting about three days beforehand, following NIOSH guidance. | The late-afternoon commute may become darker; account for visibility and outdoor conditions. |
Speak up about fatigue and follow workplace procedures
Tell a supervisor if fatigue is affecting your ability to work safely, and report near misses through the usual safety process. Fatigue can be influenced by schedules, workload, stress, demanding tasks, and hot environments; it is not simply a matter of willpower. Follow your employer’s rest and fitness-for-duty procedures rather than trying to push through a task where reduced alertness could put you or someone else at risk.
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Extra considerations for evening and night shifts
Shift workers may already be adapting to work hours that conflict with their usual sleep timing, so plan rest around the actual shift rather than assuming the clock change is the only source of fatigue. OSHA’s general guidance says sleep should occur within the eight hours before starting evening or night work and also provides advice on sleep duration and naps. Follow workplace procedures for rest and fitness for duty, and raise concerns if the schedule does not allow adequate recovery.
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