Many tradesmen are getting as little as 4.7 hours’ sleep a night before setting off for work, well below the NHS recommended seven to nine hours’ kip, a survey shows
Hull has been named the UK’s hardest-working city – with 36% of its grafters leaving home before 5am. Many tradesmen are getting as little as 4.7 hours’ sleep a night before setting off for work, well below the NHS recommended seven to nine hours’ kip, a survey shows.
Sleep-deprived Casey Hutchinson, 26, has often had to pull over in a layby to catch a quick 40 winks on his way home from work after putting in a day’s graft after an early start.
The self-employed joiner said: “When there’s not a lot of work in Hull, you’ve got to travel to West Yorkshire or North Yorkshire and you’ve instantly got an hour on top of any journey.
“I know a lot of lads do that and I’ve done it myself. There’s been plenty of times my alarm has gone off at 5 and I’m on the road for 6, on site for 7 and then working until 5pm. On one job in York, I had to pull over on the way home and get a quick half hour of sleep.”
Dad-of-two Casey, who runs Kingston Carpentry in the port city, now tries to stay local to spend more time at home with his kids. But he’s still up early most mornings, including the days he’s in the gym before work.
He added: “Sleep is harder with kids, I think I do ok and get around 6-7 hours each night. I’m up early with the kids and I go the gym twice a week before work because that’s the only time I can go so those days, I’m up even earlier.”
Research by Vanaways found Coventry came second in the early-riser rankings, with 30% of workers leaving before 5am. Plymouth, Aberdeen and Cardiff rounded off the top five, with more than a quarter of workers are already on the road before dawn.
Plumbers were revealed as the earliest-starting trade, with half leaving home before 5am, the research shows. Operations managers followed at 27%, ahead of site managers at 25%, carpenters at 20%, and bricklayers and electricians at 18%.
Adam Carter, director at Vanaways, said: “Ask almost any tradesperson and they’ll tell you the alarm clock is one of the hardest parts of the job.
“For many, being out of the house before 5am isn’t unusual. It’s simply part of the working day, whether they’re beating traffic, heading to site or getting to the first customer before most people have even woken up.
“Our research shows just how demanding those routines can be, with many tradespeople regularly sacrificing sleep to get on the road early.”
The UK cities most likely to leave before 5am
- Kingston upon Hull – 36%
- Coventry – 30%
- Plymouth – 27%
- Aberdeen – 27%
- Cardiff – 25%
- Durham – 25%
- Liverpool – 24%
- Sheffield – 22%
- Manchester – 21%
- Gloucester – 21%
The most sleep-deprived trades
- Painter – 4.7 hours
- Operations Manager – 5.3 hours
- Plumber – 5.5 hours
- Electrician – 5.8 hours
- Carpenter – 5.9 hours
- Joiner – 6.0 hours
- Bricklayer – 6.3 hours
- Tiler – 6.5 hours
- Gardener – 6.5 hours
- Site Manager – 6.5 hours