An employer has a duty of care to ensure that any work does not harm the employees’ health. They must assess the impact that shift work can have on each employee and the associated risks of developing health problems.
An employer must have a good understanding of the impact of the design of shifts and the shift work environment. This will in turn reduce fatigue, poor performance, errors, and accidents in the workplace.
Shift work generally means:
- A work activity that is rostered to take place outside the normal daytime hours
- A pattern of work where one employee replaces another over a 24 hour period.
These shifts can include working for longer than 12 hours, working on a rolling rota of days, lates or nights, split shifts, overtime and on-call duties.
Shift work can cause the following problems:
- Disruption of the normal body clock and rhythms
- Fatigue
- Poor sleep patterns with reliance on sleeping medication or stimulants
- Disturbed appetite and digestion due to irregular mealtimes
- Social and domestic problems
- Loss of mental wellbeing
- Susceptible to more minor illness due to reduced immunity
All the above problems can then manifest in the workplace causing poor decision making, slow reaction times, poor memory and concentration, reduced awareness, reduced productivity, increased risk of accidents.
Shift work can also impact on the employee’s health in the following ways:
- Chronic fatigue
- Depression and anxiety
- Gastrointestinal problems- ulcers, constipation, indigestion, abdominal pains
- Cardiac problems with hypertension and coronary heart disease
- Reproductive problems in female employees
- Inability to manage known health conditions
- Difficulty managing medication if strict timings
We are able to offer a Shift worker medical assessment. This will start with a screening questionnaire and those with any concerns will then be assessed by the nurse or doctor.
If you would like further information, please Contact us.
