Sleep, Recovery and Workplace Performance Training
A one-day evidence-based session on the most under-managed input into workplace performance. Sleep loss degrades attention, working memory, judgement and emotional regulation in a way that is measurable and predictable, and it does so while leaving the affected person confident that they are fine. In safety-critical work the effect is a hazard in its own right; in ordinary office work it quietly costs a proportion of everyone's output.
This programme is co-delivered with a registered counsellor or psychologist from our trainer network. Orbix handles the organisational, policy and compliance content; the clinical material is delivered by a practitioner qualified to teach it. The session is educational and preventive. It is not therapy, and it does not train participants to diagnose or treat anyone. HRD Corp has recognised sleep and recovery as a distinct workplace capability area, which has made this an easier programme to justify internally than it was a few years ago.
HRD Corp SBL-Khas Claimable
Course at a Glance
| Duration | 1 day |
|---|---|
| Delivery | Physical or online. Tell us your preference when you enquire. |
Programme Agenda
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Welcome and Session Overview
Introduction, objectives, and housekeeping.
9:15 AM - 10:15 AM
How Sleep Actually Works
Delivered by the clinical partner. Sleep architecture and the cycle of light, deep and REM sleep, and what each contributes to physical recovery, memory consolidation and emotional processing. The circadian rhythm and the sleep drive as two separate systems, chronotype and why morning and evening people are not simply displaying discipline or its absence, and the post-lunch dip that is a real physiological event rather than a consequence of the meal.
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
Break
10:30 AM - 11:10 AM
Sleep Debt, Cognition and Safety
What the research shows about performance under restricted sleep: the degradation of sustained attention, decision quality, risk perception and emotional regulation, and the well-documented gap between measured impairment and self-assessed alertness. Comparisons drawn between sleep deprivation and other recognised impairments. Microsleeps. The relationship between fatigue and workplace incidents, and why fatigue belongs in a hazard identification exercise.
11:10 AM - 11:50 AM
Shift Work and Irregular Hours
Circadian misalignment in shift and rotating-roster work, and the health and performance consequences over time. Roster design principles that reduce harm, including rotation direction, shift length, recovery periods between shifts and consecutive-night limits. Strategic napping, light exposure and its timing, and the honest limits of what individual behaviour can offset when the roster is the problem.
11:50 AM - 12:30 PM
Fatigue Risk Management in the Workplace
Treating fatigue as a hazard within the employer's general duties under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994: identifying fatigue-sensitive tasks, using hours-of-work and roster data, reporting fatigue without blame, and controls for driving, machinery and other safety-critical work.
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM - 2:20 PM
Common Sleep Disorders and When to Refer
Delivered by the clinical partner. Insomnia, obstructive sleep apnoea and other common conditions, the warning signs that a sleep problem needs medical assessment, and how supervisors and HR can support a referral while respecting confidentiality.
2:20 PM - 3:15 PM
Practical Sleep Hygiene and Organisational Policy
The behavioural changes with the strongest evidence: consistent timing, light exposure in the morning and its restriction at night, caffeine timing and its long half-life, alcohol's effect on sleep quality as distinct from sleep onset, exercise timing, and the sleep environment. Recognising when a sleep problem needs medical referral, including sleep apnoea and chronic insomnia. At the organisational level: a fatigue risk management approach, meeting and travel scheduling, after-hours contact norms, and the policy signals that either support recovery or quietly punish it.
3:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Break
3:30 PM - 4:10 PM
Recovery, Stress and Screens Outside Work
How workload, after-hours messaging, commuting and family demands eat into recovery, what the evidence says about naps and rest breaks, and practical boundaries that protect sleep for employees and managers alike.
4:10 PM - 4:45 PM
Personal and Team Action Plans
Participants complete a short sleep diary exercise and set two or three personal changes, and supervisors draft how they will spot and discuss fatigue in their teams.
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM
Wrap-Up and Q&A
Key takeaways, resources, and close.
Key Outcomes
- Explain sleep architecture, circadian rhythm and sleep drive, and why chronotype varies between people
- Describe the measurable effect of sleep debt on attention, judgement, risk perception and emotional regulation
- Recognise fatigue as a workplace hazard and account for it in risk assessment
- Apply roster design principles that reduce circadian harm in shift environments
- Use the sleep hygiene practices with the strongest evidence behind them
- Identify when a sleep problem needs medical referral, and what organisational policy can and cannot fix
- Build fatigue into workplace risk controls for driving and other safety-critical tasks
- Leave with a personal sleep plan and, for supervisors, an approach to fatigue conversations
Training Mode Physical / Online / Hybrid / e-learning
HRD Corp SBL-Khas Claimable
Level Foundation, suitable for all employees, with particular value for shift workers, safety-critical roles, operations supervisors, human resources and safety and health committee members
Duration 1 Day (8 Hours) | 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Venue In-house at the client's premises, or delivered via the client's preferred platform (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or equivalent)
Assessment Short knowledge check plus a personal sleep and recovery plan
Certificate Certificate of Completion issued to all participants upon full attendance