Shiftworkers and others working long or irregular hours are particularly susceptible to the hazard of fatigue. Improving shiftwork rosters Organisations that employ shiftworkers are taking on board the advances made by the scientific community about circadian rhythms and implementing rosters that are compatible with the body s natural rhythms. Human beings are hard wired to be awake during the day and sleep during the night. When we force the biological clock to tick at a different pace, sleep becomes shortened and the quality is impaired. The result is a tired worker.
Tired people make errors on the job, intellectual and emotional function is impaired and.
It can also cause severe health problems. In New Zealand most organisations have opted to encourage workers to remain daytime orientated thus causing minimal disruption to the body clock. This means limiting the number of consecutive nights in order that the body does not start to adjust. OSH recommend a maximum of 3 consecutive nights for a 12 hour shift and 4 consecutive nights for an 8 hour shift. Also important is the direction of rotation.