ShiftWork II The evidence

Learning Outcomes At the end of this session and with additional reading you will be able to – Evaluate the impact of shiftwork in real world settings

Job Performance Many industrial accidents involving human error occur between midnight and 6am The three mile island mishap occurred at 4am They were weekly rotating shiftworkers who were halfway through their night shift (Ehret, 1981) However the impact of shiftwork depends on the nature of the task Performance on simple tasks are expected to reach their lowest during the late night and early morning

Job Performance II Paradoxically some complex mental tasks involving short term memory are performed fairly well at night Research have concluded that the time clock governing complex task performance differs from the time clock governing simple task performance which is also linked to the body temperature clock (Folkard, 1990)

Job Related Attitudes Shiftworkers report lower job satisfaction than day workers Shiftworkers also demonstrated lower need fulfilment and emotional well-being The lower emotional state of shiftworkers is also attribute to the increased health and domestic problems they face (Frost & Jamal, 1979)

Personal Health Shiftworker research does not all conclude that shiftwork is bad for one’s health – Shiftworkers often report fewer health complaints than regular day workers – Workers who experience the most distress leave, and those who stay are a select group – Gastrointestinal problems are the most widely reported health problem with shiftworkers (Koller, 1983) – It has also been suggested there is a relationship between shiftwork and cardiovascular disease 19.9% vs 7.4% for day workers (Koller, 1983)

Social and Domestic Factors Shiftwork interferes with personal life and family roles Higher rates of divorce in shiftworkers (Tepas, et al, 1985) Increased domestic load, women shiftworkers with children sleep on average 9 hours less a week than female day workers ( Gadbosi, 1981) Shiftwork can causes social isolation and leads to more solitary leisure pursuits ( Herbert, 1983)

The Police Service – A Case Study Shiftwork is commonly reported as a source of stress by police officers Rotating shifts are seen as having a negative impact on social and family life However the evidence is not conclusive

The Police Service – Empirical Evidence I Storch and Panzarella (1996) – Midnight shift favoured due to decreased work load – jealousy of senior officers who were able to monopolise midnight shift Lester (1986) – 48% of officers said that shiftwork was enjoyable, while 64% of officers reported shiftwork made job more interesting

The police service – Empirical Evidence II Nechreiner et al (1995) – Suggested that shiftwork problems are due to length of time on shiftwork i.e. over 15 years officers experience more problems such as sleep and gastrointestinal problems Neylan et al (2002) – Proposed that sleep problems are not due to rotating shifts but due to routine operational stressors

The Police Service – Empirical Evidence III Pierce and Dunham (1992) – Assessed the change from an 8 hr rotating shift to 4 day on, 4 day of shift Results found that there was – Increased motivation – Increased Job satisfaction – Increased Department effectiveness

The Police Service – Empirical Evidence IV Gibbes (2004) because I do shift work err I see a lot my more of the children than perhaps most other fathers except they have every Saturday and Sunday with them, but then Saturdays and Sundays are spent rushing around ferrying your children round from one party to another or something but I’m there in the mornings I can do breakfast I can take them to school and I do lunches and in the evenings in there if I’m on early turn so I can I think that police officers are very lucky and they can spend a lot more time with their children if they choose to …. err I’d like to think that the children had benefited because of my shift pattern

Overall Conclusions The prognosis for shiftwork seems bleak 20% of all people who experience shiftwork are totally unable to adapt to it successfully (Monk, 1988) While some people tolerate the physical strains of shiftwork better than others it can still result in fatigue, irritability, reduced performance and decreased mental agility

Overall Conclusions II There is no evidence to suggest that any amount of training, motivation pr professionalism is able to overcome the performance deficits associated with fatigue and sleep loss and the sleepiness associated with circadian variations in alertness (US Institute of Medicine 2004)