As Jason Foster and I noted in Health and Safety in Canadian Workplaces, shift work is associated with poorer worker health. The main issue with shift work is its potential to disrupt a worker’s circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms (commonly known as the biological clock) are the daily (24-hour) cycles our body follows to ensure (in humans) high activity during the day and low activity at night.
Sleeping and waking, eating, adrenalin, body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and many other bodily functions are regulated by circadian rhythms. When work occurs outside of that daily rhythm, it places strain on the body as it is forced to alter the cycle.
A second concern is that shift work is associated with behaviour contributing to poorer health, including smoking, poor diet, and increased alcohol consumption. Shift work also disrupts family and social activities. This disruption adds stress and reduces the support that workers can draw upon to manage stress.
Research into shift work has been extensive and shows a wide range of health effects. In the short term, shift work leads to shortened and less restorative sleep and chronic tiredness and lack of alertness, as well as stomach aches, indigestion, and heartburn. Shift work is associated with increased risk of workplace incidents and injury. The risk increases as the number of days on the disruptive shift grows. It also jumps if the disrupted shift lasts longer than eight hours.
Longer-term exposure to shift work is associated with a series of illnesses and conditions. Shift workers report significantly higher rates of burnout, emotional exhaustion, stress, anxiety, depression, and other psychological distress. Shift work increases a worker’s risk of developing diabetes, and some studies have also found a greater risk of heart disease. Some studies have also suggested a link between shift work and pregnancy complications.
Likely the most significant long-term risk of shift work is increased risk of cancer, in particular breast cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has concluded that disruptive shift work is “probably carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2A)—the second most conclusive category in the IARC.
Receiving department, 3 A.M.
Staff cuts have socked up the overage
Directives are posted, no callbacks, complaints
Everywhere is calm
Hong Kong is present, Taipei awakes
All talk of circadian rhythm
I see today with a newsprint fray
My night is colored headache gray
Daysleeper
Daysleeper
Daysleeper
The bull and the bear are marking their territories
They're leading the blind with their international glories
I am the screen, the blinding light
I'm the screen, I work at night
I see today with a newsprint fray
My night is colored headache gray
Don't wake me with so much
Daysleeper
I cried the other night
I can't even say why
Fluorescent flat caffeine lights
It's furious balancing
I am the screen, the blinding light
I'm the screen, I work at night
I see today with a newsprint fray
My night is colored headache gray
Don't wake me with so much
The ocean machine is set to 9
I'll squeeze into heaven and Valentine
My bed is pulling me, gravity
Daysleeper
Daysleeper
Daysleeper
Daysleeper
Daysleeper
-- Bob Barnetson
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