Sleep scientist to tackle on-call workforce fatigue risk

Playing a critical role in emergency response, infrastructure maintenance, utilities, health care, aviation and other essential services, on-call staff are also disproportionately exposed to fatigue-related injuries and incidents, representing an estimated $2.25 billion annual cost to the Australian economy.

Now, CQUniversity sleep scientist Dr Madeline Sprajcer has secured $529,993 to investigate fatigue risks for Australia’s on-call workers. The funding is part of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) and is the university’s only DECRA recipient in this round.

With limited extant evidence existing on how repeated overnight callouts impact sleep, cognitive performance, fatigue and safety, Sprajcer’s project will explore the acute effects of overnight disruptions on on-call workers.

Dr Madeline Sprajcer (supplied).

“This funding gives us a critical opportunity to understand what on-call workers are actually experiencing during repeated overnight waking,” Sprajcer said. “By building this evidence base, we can better protect the people who keep our essential services running around the clock.”

Commencing in 2026, Sprajcer’s project aims to generate new insights into how interrupted sleep impacts WHS outcomes. “Dr Sprajcer’s work will deliver insights that can improve lives, reduce injuries and support safer communities,” said Professor Grant Stanley, CQUniversity Vice-President of Research.

Top image credit: iStock.com/CandyRetriever. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.