Work-related accidents and daylight saving time in Finland.

BACKGROUND

Recent research has indicated that transitions into and out of daylight saving time (DST) unbalance the physiological circadian rhythm and may lead to sleep disturbance. Sleep deprivation may have negative effects on motivation, attention and alertness and thus it is possible that transitions into and out of DST may increase accident rates.

AIMS

To explore the impact of DST transitions on the number of occupational accidents in Finland.

METHODS

For the study, we analysed all occupational accidents that happened in Finland 1 week before and 1 week after DST transitions during the years 2002-06.

RESULTS

Transitions into and out of DST did not significantly increase the number of occupational accidents.

CONCLUSIONS

It seems that sleep deprivation after DST transition is not harmful enough to impact on occupational accident rates.