Effects Of Rotating Shift Work

All articles researched present findings that support the hypothese that working shift work has a negative side effect on either your health, wellbeing or on your quality of sleep. Some even claim that working shift work will decree your life span. Both Shift Work Disorder, and Excessive Sleepiness Disorder are displayed in those that work shift work. It is also believed that if you work shift work there is an increase probability of workplace accidents, as well as accidents that may occur after working a shift.

The scheduling of hours of work is undoubtedly one of the major social problems of industrial society. Statistic estimates that 30% of Canada's workforce are involved in some kind of shiftwork. Of those, 33% work irregular shifts, just under 30% work rotating shifts, 17% work long term evening shifts, 10% work on call, 3% work split shifts, 3% work long term night shifts and just over 3% are classed as "other". Present estimates tell us that before the trend slows, fully 35% of the workforce will work some type of shiftwork (Siroonian 123). Companies are feeling the need to maximize their efficiency by spreading their operating costs over 24 hours. However, on the other hand, working other than the standard dayshift can cause many problems for the worker. It can affect the worker's health and safety and the relationships with one's family and the community (Carpentier 14). In this essay, I will analysis the impact of shiftwork on humans and make some suggestions of how to alleviate some negative aspect of it.

Shift Work: The introduction of shift work mainly depends on safety and productivity of the workers being maintained. However, evidence suggests that safety and productivity of workers may decline at night shifts with more hours on duty between breaks. The shift work system can be improved by introducing more rest breaks (Folkard & Tucker 2003).

Maynard, W., & Brogmus, G. (2006). Safer shift work through more effective scheduling. Occupational health and safety, 16.

Among these issues includes glucose tolerance alterations, problems with cortisol concentrations, obesity, diabetes, mood disorders, and unusual pregnancy outcomes including an increased risk for preterm birth in female shift workers (Tewari et al. 14). It is unfortunate that those who are characterized as morning people typically have a harder time adjusting to the overnight shift (Natvik et al. 720). Similarly, those who consider themselves night owls have a harder time waking up early to report to work. Scheduling employees based upon how their body functions would benefit the facility and allow for a more productive

"Effects on Employees of Controlling Working Hours and Working Schedules." Kubo, T. Ebsco Host. 21 February, 2013.

...Sobal, and Bisogni (2003), participants characterized their jobs as including long hours, inflexible schedules, overtime work, and shift work that left them feeling that they did not have the necessary personal resources in the form of time or energy for routine household tasks such as preparing meals that met their own ideals.

...you can be as alert as you would like to be if you are working for 16 hours straight. Work ethic is important factor and you can’t expect your employees, to be motivated to work if they are forced to work long hours.

Often Americans have a feeling that situations should be changed to accommodate themselves. This feeling could changing a work schedule to fit

Content from the article “Can a 6-Hour Workday Work?” connects with the theme of working conditions and production in the Industrial Revolutions. The article proposes the theory that shorter workdays and better managed use of time (work intensely, take a short break, and repeat) may result in an increase in productivity and quality of work. Studies have shown that long and stressful stretches of difficult work result in various health and mental issues. According to the article, “one recent study estimated that stress in the workplace contributes to 120,000 deaths each year and as much as 8 percent of healthcare costs in the United States”. In the Industrial Revolution, working conditions were extremely harsh as there was so much work to be