14 April 2004 - Circadian Technologies Research on Extended Hours Workers
Research and consulting firm, Circadian Technologies has published a new report claiming that ergonomic issues are different for night workers and that such workers may face increased risks of injuries.
The report details the link between working practices and ergonomics injuries, such as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), with key points to note as:
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In a survey of over 12,500 extended hours workers, i.e. those regularly working outside the hours of 7am to 7pm, 30% of male workers and 41% of female workers reported chronic or frequent back pain, while 16% of male workers and 27% of female workers reported chronic or frequent wrist pain
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Sleep deprivation could possibly be damaging in terms of muscle, ligament, or tendon injury. With the average extended-hours employee sleeping only 5.1 hours to 5.5 hours each day when working a night shift, they could face an increased risk of ergonomic injuries
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The balance of work and home life is important in controlling the number of lost work days due to MSD complaints. Both men and women who face a simultaneous presence of high mental workload and increased domestic workload have increased neck and shoulder MSDs
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Disturbances in sleep affect pain and negatively impact the time it takes a worker to return to work after suffering a soft-tissue injury such as low back pain
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Six days of restricted sleep caused changes to the sleep architecture that are similar to the changes seen in people suffering from depression
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In addition, lack of sleep causes changes in several natural body rhythms of hormone secretion including melatonin, cortisol, thyroid-stimulating hormone, leptin, prolactin and growth hormone.
Ergonomics Risks, Myths, and Solutions for Extended Hours Operations is available from Circadian Technologies here.
