The last 50 years have brought increased scrutiny to workplace safety. There are thousands of pages of definitions, regulations, and advisories that constrain or define activity and premises. Safety is indeed a big focus in American business. In the latest year for which we have official numbers, 2023, there is further improvement according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
"Private industry employers reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2023, down 8.4 percent from 2022."
That is a significant reduction, and still, 2.6 million is a great many. It is more than the entire population of Houston, Texas. Many people suffer work injuries every year. The National Safety Council says that the primary culprits are:
"overexertion and bodily reaction and slips, trips and falls. These top three causes account for more than 75% of all nonfatal (lost-time) injuries."
"From 2011-2022, more than 21,000 workers in the U.S. died in a work-related motor vehicle crash (35% of all work-related deaths)."
The road is undoubtedly a dangerous place. See Workplace Road Safety (November 2022). And the government has signaled some inclination to regulate more safety. See Safety is Coming (March 2022). The operation of automobiles is increasingly influenced by computers, cameras, and technology, but more is likely to come.
Many vehicle accidents result from inadvertence or inattention. One causative factor that has been repeatedly cited is fatigue, a topic that has received much less attention than easier targets such as impaired driving, texting, and similar.
New Jersey pioneered legislative forbiddance of drowsy driving in 2003, dubbed "Maggie's Law," memorializing Maggie McDonnell, who was killed by a drowsy driver. Some applauded the effort, but there were detractors. The scientific community raised some concerns about the measurement of impairment and enforcement. See Driving While Sleepy Should Not Be A Criminal Offense: The Case for Caution, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Vol. 1, No. 4, 2005.
Measurement of impairment is not a new problem. See Pot, Impairment and Car Crashes (July 2017). New Jersey solved that in Maggie's Law by depending on the driver to essentially admit impairment. The law defined impairment as “having been without sleep for a period in excess of 24 consecutive hours.” Thus, when the trooper or deputy asks, the driver decides.
As an aside, this is little different than the New York law on Impaired Driving (May 2025). There is some potential for enforcement being confounded when it depends on admissions, particularly in a world that includes both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, self-incrimination, and right to counsel.
Early in the 21st century, there was a prediction that drowsy driving laws would spread. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), only Arkansas has followed New Jersey's Maggie's lead. And yet, drowsiness continues to present challenges and issues. That is likely in the "35% of all work-related deaths" that involve vehicle accidents. It is similarly likely in the broader spectrum or work injury.
The GHSA contends that a significant volume of workers are "sleep deprived." They claim it is as high as 83.6 million. Those people work around equipment, must climb ladders or stairs, and make judgment calls regarding posturing, lifting, hydrating, and more. They are, each, the most important tool in their personal safety arsenal.
This is not to say that New Jersey is right or wrong, but the trend is not to legislatively address drowsiness. The trend, instead, is toward equipment in vehicles to detect and confront drowsiness. Cameras will watch us throughout our drive and assess our performance, persistence, and patience. They will be big brother invading our private space under the auspices of protecting ourselves and others.
While that may bring better driving habits (like the little warning in my recent rental that dinged and then displayed "Would you like to take a break?"). But, in no event will those cameras proliferate onto ladders, hand-trucks, and a plethora of devices used daily to make a living. The cameras might bring some improvement, but they will not wholesale prevent work accidents.
In that vein, perhaps the only real solution to drowsy working is sleep. Perhaps awareness would help. The articles cited herein are an excellent start in gaining insight into the issue and its conundrums.
