IMPLEMENTATION OF NAPPING IN INDUSTRY AND THE PROBLEM OF SLEEP INERTIA

It seems reasonable to believe that in specific situations napping at the work place would be possible and used if authorized and encouraged . Very short naps could have very positive long-term effects on biolog ical functions. Training someone to sleep for short periods appears fe asible if there is a high motivation to do so. Sleep inertia can be co nsidered as one of the main limiting factors in napping strategy. Slee p inertia depends on different factors such as sleep stage preceding t he awakening, temporal placement of the nap, duration of nap and wakef ulness preceding it, etc. The effects of sleep inertia might be differ ent depending on the type of task, and a reactivation technique applie d immediately after awakening may remove it. Despite the fact that its implementation in industry raises some practical issues, napping can be considered as a possible strategy to increase the vigilance level o f night workers.