Seasonal sleep effects on Louisiana aerial applicators' safety

Sleep management is one of the documented factors affecting safety and health. Using SLEEP (Sleep Loss Effects on Everyday Performance), a web-based model that integrates the dynamics of sleep to predict performance loss, aerial applicators licensed to work in the state of Louisiana were surveyed and evaluated for sleep deprivation. On and off season sleeping patterns were compared. During the off season, agricultural pilots reported having average sleeping time (6.9 hours), while during the farming season, because of their grueling schedule (sometimes working 100 hours a week), pilots reported sleeping only 3 hours per day in the week before the survey was made. Sleep deprivation greatly increases the chances of accidents. In the Mississippi delta region, 84% of the fatal accidents in the past nine years involving agricultural pilots were ruled as caused by human factors. Younger pilots are particularly at risk due to their limited flying experience and greater sleep needs. The agricultural pilot community would likely benefit from educational programs focused on better sleep management and the value and limitations of countermeasures to cope with fatigue.