Why workers are sick and tired of rotating shifts

Shift workers face increased health risks, new research has revealed.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report has found that offshore oil workers adopting the most popular shift pattern of seven night shifts followed by seven day shifts "were at increased risk of heart disease and diabetes".

"The swing shift is the killer," said researcher Josephine Arendt of the University of Surrey, adding that the risks can be reduced by avoiding fatty or sugary snacks at night.

UNISON public services union is concerned about the effects of shift patterns on health workers. Delegates at its health conference last month called for urgent action to tackle the stresses of working "rotating" day and night shifts, because of the damage they can do to workers' physical and mental health.

Midwife Rachel Voller told the conference: "Many thousands of NHS employees work shifts and this number is rising. People are rightly worried about the long-term damage to their health caused by fatigue and difficulties with sleeping. These can lead members to become dependent on caffeine to keep them awake and pills to get them to sleep."

The conference called for all shift patterns to be thoroughly risk assessed and carefully implemented to minimise health risks.

Effect of shift schedule on offshore shiftworkers' circadian rhythms and health (RR318) is available from HSE Books, price £30.00 - call 01787 881165 or visit www.hsebooks.com. It can also be downloaded free from www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr318.pdf