Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Adequate Time Off Between Shifts a Key to Reducing Fatigue Risks

Article on Ergoweb By Jennifer Anderson June 15, 2009

Circadian Technologies, a London consultancy, says the answer to reducing the risk of fatigue from shift work is to allow a minimum of 11 hours off between shifts. This increases the chance of people achieving the recommended 8.4 hours of sleep.

Circadian generally recommends limiting eight-hour shifts to a maximum of seven in a row, and 12-hour shifts to four or five in a row.

A study by the company reported in Business Week in April 2005 concludes that obesity, diabetes and heart disorders are higher for night workers, that they have a 20 percent greater chance of being involved in a severe accident and make five times more serious mistakes than their daytime counterparts.

Andy Brazier

No comments: