Shift and night work and long working hours - a systematic review of safety implications
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TLDR
The evaluated studies give no clear indications of any age or gender being specifically susceptible or protected against the effects of work times scheduling on accident risk, and the findings are most relevant to safety-critical activities such as the transport and health sectors.Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: In order to devise effective preventive strategies, it is important to study workplace stressors that might increase the risk of workplace accidents - both affecting workers themselves as well as causing harm to third-parties. The aim of this report is to provide a systematic, updated overview and scientific review of empirical research regarding accidents in relation to long work hours and shift work, primarily based on epidemiological studies. METHODS: The search for articles was part of a large review study on the effects of work hours on various health outcomes, safety, and performance. The search strategy included 5 international scientific databases, and nearly 7000 articles were initially identified using our search string. Following the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 443 publications were found and evaluated using a pre-defined scoring system. Of these, 43 concerned safety and accidents but only 14 were considered to be of high quality (total score 2 or 3 on a scale from 0-3) and therefore used for this study. RESULTS: Both shift work and long working hours present a substantial and well-documented detrimental effect on safety - all the studies that are included in this review have one or more significant findings in this respect. The trends are quite coherent although the increases in accident rates are mostly from 50% to 100%. In epidemiological terms, this may be seen as rather small differences. The use of such data is therefore only of importance if the accident incidence is high or if accidents may have large effects. CONCLUSIONS: The findings are most relevant to safety-critical activities such as the transport and health sectors. Work periods >8 hours carry an increased risk of accidents that cumulates, so that the increased risk of accidents at around 12 hours is twice the risk at 8 hours. Shift work including nights carries a substantial increased risk of accidents, whereas "pure" night work may bring some protection against this effect due to resynchronization. The evaluated studies give no clear indications of any age or gender being specifically susceptible or protected against the effects of work times scheduling on accident risk. Language: enread more
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Health consequences of shift work and insufficient sleep
TL;DR: Evidence shows that the effect of shift work on sleep mainly concerns acute sleep loss in connection with night shifts and early morning shifts, and Laboratory studies indicate that cardiometabolic stress and cognitive impairments are increased by shift work, as well as by sleep loss.
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Impacts of shift work on sleep and circadian rhythms.
TL;DR: The aim of the present review is to review the circadian and sleep-wake disturbances associated with shift work as well as their medical impacts.
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Long working hours and alcohol use: systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data
Marianna Virtanen,Markus Jokela,Solja T. Nyberg,Ida E. H. Madsen,Tea Lallukka,Kirsi Ahola,Lars Alfredsson,G. David Batty,Jakob B. Bjorner,Marianne Borritz,Hermann Burr,Annalisa Casini,Els Clays,Dirk De Bacquer,Nico Dragano,Raimund Erbel,Jane E. Ferrie,Eleonor I. Fransson,Mark Hamer,Katriina Heikkilä,Karl-Heinz Jöckel,Anders Knutsson,Markku Koskenvuo,Karl-Heinz Ladwig,Thorsten Lunau,Martin L. Nielsen,Maria Nordin,Tuula Oksanen,Jan H. Pejtersen,Jaana Pentti,Reiner Rugulies,Paula Salo,Jürgen Schupp,Johannes Siegrist,Archana Singh-Manoux,Andrew Steptoe,Sakari Suominen,Töres Theorell,Jussi Vahtera,Gert G. Wagner,Peter Westerholm,Hugo Westerlund,Mika Kivimäki +42 more
TL;DR: In this article, a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data was conducted to quantify the association between long working hours and alcohol use, showing that individuals whose working hours exceed standard recommendations are more likely to increase their alcohol use to levels that pose a health risk.
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Long Working Hours and Coronary Heart Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Marianna Virtanen,Katriina Heikkilä,Markus Jokela,Jane E. Ferrie,G. David Batty,Jussi Vahtera,Mika Kivimäki +6 more
TL;DR: Results from prospective observational studies suggest an approximately 40% excess risk of CHD in employees working long hours in employees with a history of coronary heart disease.
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An Official American Thoracic Society Statement: The Importance of Healthy Sleep. Recommendations and Future Priorities.
Sutapa Mukherjee,Sanjay R. Patel,Stefanos N. Kales,Najib T. Ayas,Kingman P. Strohl,David Gozal,Atul Malhotra +6 more
TL;DR: Good quality and quantity of sleep are essential for good health and overall quality of life; therefore a strong recommendation was made for the implementation of public education programs on the importance of sleep health.
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