Over the weekend, we in the U.S. "gained" an hour of sleep. It turns out that this transition is safer than the one we experience in the spring, when we "lose" an hour, a new study referenced by the NYT finds.

The Michigan State University study (available here in the Journal of Applied Psychology) says that the springtime transition leads to higher numbers of workplace injuries and increases the severity of workplace injuries.

NYT's Catherine Rampell writes that:

They found that on the Monday after the shift forward into daylight saving time, employees had 5.7 percent more workplace injuries than they had on the typical workday. Employees also lost 67.6 percent more workdays because of injuries than on non-time-change days, indicating the injuries incurred right after the time switch were more serious.

The authors attribute the increase in injuries’ number and severity to a sleep-deprived labor force: On average, employees sleep 40 minutes less on the night following the “spring forward” change to daylight saving time than they do on regular (non-time-shift) nights, the authors write.

On the other hand, there is no significant change in either the number or severity of injuries on the Monday following the “fall back” time shift, when everyone gains an hour.

Why? People seem to have more trouble going to sleep earlier than they’re used to than going to sleep later than they’re used to.

Here's to that "extra hour" of sleep, while it lasts.