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© Easy Guides Australia Introduction – Your Body and Shiftwork MAIN MENU Planning Your Sleep Time Health and Fitness Diet – Do’s and Don’ts Substance Use – Take Care Shiftworkers and Mental Health Family and Social Life QUIT X WWW EASY GUIDES ONLINE Click to start Use the menu below to jump to a particular section or use the arrow at the bottom of the screen to begin at the start. Safety at Work PRINTABLE PDF FILES CONTACT EASY GUIDES x x x x x x Not available in demo x

© Easy Guides Australia INTRODUCTION – YOUR BODY AND SHIFTWORK MAIN MENU NEXTPREV

© Easy Guides Australia MAIN MENU NEXTPREV Humans are diurnal animals - that means we are awake during the day and sleep at night. We sleep for one third of our life.

© Easy Guides Australia Hummingbirds - those who are flexible. MAIN MENU NEXTPREV Generally speaking there are three types of human responses to the wake/sleep cycle. Larks - those who like to wake up early. Owls - those who prefer to stay up late.

© Easy Guides Australia MAIN MENU NEXTPREV The human body is made to be active and awake during the day and asleep at night. As a shiftworker you work against your body clock. You are often expected to work when your body clock tells you to sleep. Daily body rhythms control the sleep-wake cycle, heart rate, digestion and body temperature as well as memory, mood and performance. This is guided by an internal body clock in the brain called circadian rhythms.

© Easy Guides Australia MAIN MENU NEXTPREV This internal body clock has not been interrupted for at least 150,000 years. For all this time humans have lived in rhythm with the rising and setting of the sun. Since the industrial revolution however, particularly with the invention of artifical light, this has changed. In recent times we have adopted new systems of working, which includes shift work and extended working hours.

© Easy Guides Australia KNOCK !!! MUM!! MEOW!!! RING!!! MAIN MENU NEXTPREV As a shiftworker your sleep time is when most people are awake. People may phone you during their daytime forgetting that this is your sleep time! As you can see, being a shiftworker is difficult. You are faced with disruptions to your body clock and sleep patterns as well as increased pressures on your family and social life. You may need to attend family and social occasions like birthdays, weddings, barbecues and so on during your sleep time. You may feel you are in a state of “jet lag” as both your body rhythm and sleep time are out of step with others.

© Easy Guides Australia MAIN MENU NEXTPREV But… the GOOD NEWS is that there are many things you and your family can do to help cope with the shiftworking lifestyle.

© Easy Guides Australia MAIN MENU NEXTPREV PLANNING YOUR SLEEP TIME

© Easy Guides Australia MAIN MENU PREV Getting Quality Sleep The length and quality of your sleep depends largely on your body clock. Not everyone needs the same amount of sleep so it is important to find out how much sleep is right for YOU. You may find that you are not sleeping for as long or as deeply as normal. As sleeping at night is part of our natural rhythm, sleeping during the day will put you out of synch with your body clock.