We at Romanucci & Blandin know from our many years of handling cases involving construction site accidents that management often fails to take adequate steps to prevent injuries. A new study suggests that employers should consider the hazards involved in switching to daylight saving time. Its drawbacks for workers may not have received enough attention.

According to a study by Christopher M. Barnes and David T. Wagner at Michigan State University, an increase in job-related injuries on Mondays immediately following the switch to Daylight Saving Time can affect sleep patterns and activity cycles.

On the Monday following the switch, when workers lose an average of 40 minutes of sleep, they sustain more workplace injuries and more severe injuries. Interestingly, on Mondays following the shift to Standard Time, no significant loss of sleep or considerable increase in the number or severity of work-related injuries was found.

The researchers suggest that, for example, in manufacturing jobs or on construction sites, management should schedule the more dangerous tasks toward the end of the week, when workers have already adapted to the time change.