National survey reveals levels of officer fatigue

25 June 2020

Almost half of officers who responded to the first national police wellbeing survey revealed they were getting less than six hours’ sleep a night.

Around 35,000 people responded to the survey carried out by Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service, and the College of Policing. Oscar Kilo and the college have now pledged to carry out research with experts from around the world, together with UK practitioners and staff associations, to look at ways to reduce the growing issue of officer and staff fatigue.

“This is an incredibly important piece of work,” says Helen Collier, secretary of Humberside Police Federation, “We are all aware that shift workers are more likely to experience poor quality sleep and the results of this survey give us the firm evidence of that.

“The nature of police work means officers are having to make split-second decisions that can have a critical effect on how an incident unfolds. If officers are fatigued it is going to have an impact on their decision-making processes but fatigue can also have a lasting effect on people’s mental health and wellbeing.

“It is time for the police service to not just talk about officer and staff wellbeing but also to take action to see what can be done to address fatigue.”

The wellbeing survey also found that police officers working in safeguarding and investigations reported lower levels of wellbeing, while police staff reported lower levels of wellbeing in areas such as custody, contact management and incident management.

There were, however, many positive findings:

• 65 per cent of respondents reporting feeling satisfaction in their work.
• The majority of officers and staff reported they felt trusted in their roles and were able to act and make choices which reflected their own personal beliefs and values.
• Both police officers and staff reported feeling high levels of competence in their work, meaning they felt they could be effective, make important contributions and felt valued by their co-workers and supervisors.

Chief Constable Andy Rhodes the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) wellbeing lead and service director for Oscar Kilo, said: “Looking at the results, we see some areas of progress, and other issues which strengthen our resolve to keep doing more.

“It's clear that many people feel valued by their peers and supervisors - but less so by the organisation and the public – a gap we see in every survey that is directly linked to trust. Fatigue also leaps off the page, and this has a lot to do with our cultural acceptance in relation to things like disrupted sleep and all the risks it can bring to our health and operational decision-making.”

Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, CEO of the College of Policing, said the survey would provide a baseline which Oscar Kilo would use to measure progress and help prioritise work nationally and within individual forces.

Read the full survey results on the Oscar Kilo website.