A nationwide poll by international safety barrier manufacturer, A-SAFE, has revealed that over half of UK workers lose sleep as a result of workplace worries.

The company polled 1,000 people working in industries including automotive, food and drink, logistics and transport, retail, and government, and found that 58 percent of British workers lose sleep over their job. The data showed that almost a quarter (23 percent) regularly lose sleep with a further 35 percent experiencing an occasional loss of sleep.

The poll, which found that some workers are missing out on more than 10 hours of slumber a week, identified job security (34 percent), tight deadlines (28 percent), and line managers (25 percent) as the biggest worries for people at work. Client demands (23 percent), budget concerns (22 percent) and even office politics (20 percent) were also revealed as factors that contributed to a loss of sleep. The results revealed that some industries are losing more sleep over work than others, with the automotive industry losing the most:

1. Automotive
2. Government / MOD
3. Health & hygiene
4. Retail
5. Logistics & transport
6. Food & drink processing
7. Building & construction
8. Food & drink warehousing

It’s not just sleep that work is affecting. It has been revealed that workplace worries also result in increased alcohol intake (20 percent), relationship issues (35 percent), and nearly a third (32 percent) of the country not wanting to go to work. James Smith, Co-owner of A-SAFE said: “Everyone at work will come across workplace stress or worries at some point in their career, and it’s really interesting to see the different factors affecting people working in the UK to help inform how to best address these.

“We wanted to see how workers in different industries cope with different workplace stresses and what impact this might have on health and safety. The results suggest that worries at work can have a negative impact on life outside the office, leading to actions that could affect performance at work. We hope the findings help identify factors contributing to work-related stress and help employers ensure that these don’t impact on the well-being of employees and day-to-day running of their business.”