Traffic Safety Initiatives: A Blueprint for Fatigue Risk Management on Patrol

Oscar Kilo—the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS)—is specifically designed to provide support and guidance for organizational wellness to all police agencies within England and Wales. The products and services, which continue to evolve, have been developed by policing for policing and are designed to meet the unique needs of officers and staff. These include many aspects of occupational health and well-being, including but not limited to leadership, physical and mental wellness, psychological trauma risk management, peer support, and sleep and fatigue interventions.

The NPWS scans and develops the international well-being landscape through evidence-based research, keeping on top of national and international best practice. This allows the program to pilot novel approaches and scale up, as necessary, to a UK-wide level. In addition, the NPWS conducts regular surveys of the police workforce in England and Wales; this is a vital data collection tool that helps guide the products and services provided. The first survey in 2019, which resulted in 35,000 responses, highlighted that police officers were reporting insufficient sleep (less than 6 hours per 24-hour period), as well as poor sleep quality. Subsequent surveys have confirmed lower than desired satisfaction with sleep, along with high levels of fatigue in both police officers and civilian staff. In order to address these issues, the NPWS has developed many resources, working with international experts in the field, to reduce and mitigate sleepiness and fatigue. Several projects have been completed, with more still ongoing, to provide products and services to advise individuals and guide best practice at an organizational level.

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