Legal and labor responsibility aspects related to obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS)

Sleep apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) represent a major risk when developing working activities, especially those that are considered dangerous and involve legal responsibility, including handling public transport vehicles, cargo and heavy machinery. Shift work and sleep deprivation are also causes of increased work-related accidents; this risk increases when workers and their families do not understand the real dimension of this type of work life and, therefore, are not responsible for their health. Some authors think that sleep apnea and EDS are public health issues due to their high prevalence and economic burden. It is important that the Colombian State regulates, on the one hand, aspects of legal responsibility of patients who carry out hazardous tasks and are affected by this disease and specific symptoms and, on the other hand, the occupational conditions of the workers who work shifts and whose health is affected.