Shift work: Can you handle it?

Is variety the spice of life? Things can certainly heat up under the effect of shift work. The changing shift schedules of a work 'day' amplifies every employment issue. Coping with shift work demands a particular character type, one who is good at planning and can go with the flow that often goes against the current.

A shift scenario adds a totally different dimension to one's work and private life. Shift work can be of the split variety, where you are employed in a shop or catering establishment and have some hours off in the afternoon.

It can either be an eight-hour type which migrates across 24 hours, or a 12-hour stint. In this category we could also include offshore workers. The pros and cons of shift work should be taken into consideration very seriously before embarking on training, for example, particularly for school-leavers who are inexperienced when it comes to the demands of work life per se.

Out of sync

The world rotates in the same direction as the regular, more-or-less eight to five office jobs. If you work in a sector that doesn't adhere to this schedule, you're spinning on a different axis and you can be left feeling out of sync.

Forget attending any type of locally-run course, being able to attend all your children's activities, giving them lifts or commit yourself according to a typical work day. Catch your favourite programme on the telly? Forget it. Shift work rules your schedule more than it does for the 'dailies'.

People will ask you what you're doing on the weekend or on New Year's Eve and they simply cannot understand that you'll be working - your life has a completely different rhythm to theirs. All of this can take its toll in the long term.

Shift work suits people who like variety. Not for them the humdrum same-old same-old. They adore the fact that their work times vary or that, in the case of shops, at least their working day is split into two halves. A four-hour chunk is obviously much less of a strain.

One of the forgotten downsides of split shifts is that is also means twice the travelling time, therefore double travelling expenses, stress and minus time from your free time. This detail might sound trite but our summer heat also necessitates at least one more shower and change of clothing. All these frustrations can add up to a serious negative strain on your health and happiness.

With 12-hour shifts, however, the scenario is different. Imagine, you never have to face the same traffic jams day in day out. You can actually sometimes take your exercise during the day and during the week or run vital errands without eating into your vacation leave.

Your off days don't coincide with the crowds so you can enjoy peaceful evenings out without the weekend mayhem. A shop assistant at the airport revealed that the 12-hour day/night/rest/off shift has one big advantage: you get so much day time off time, that you end up not 'wasting' your vacation leave to run errands. Leave can then easily be taken in chunks.

If you opt for shift work, you will need to become incredibly adept at planning and communication in both your personal and work life. Organisation of time off also needs to be done way in advance because it can affect a four-day cycle for both you and your replacement.

Home truths

But can your nearest and dearest cope with your chameleonic schedule? Child care, for instance, takes on an even more difficult facet than it already does. For the airport sales assistant's colleague, a married woman with three children, the same job means that she is most often such a 'mobile mum', keeping in touch with her children over the phone. This lady needs not only a partner who can be there for the children when she is not, but also a network of relatives willing to lend a hand.

In the April 2006 issue of the US Journal of Marriage and Family, researchers found that unsociable work times are associated with poorer mental health in parents and more social and emotional difficulties in children.

Families where fathers work non-standard hours show worse family functioning and more hostile and ineffective parenting. When it is mothers who work these hours, there is also more parent distress.

The partner of someone who works in the catering industry, for example, can end up feeling like a widow. Children suffer because their parent is just never at home when they are. The wife of a now-retired restaurant chef describes the effect his work hours have had on her:

"Yes, I knew he was in catering when I met him. You can't change something that's in someone's blood. But I was left at home every evening on my own for the past 40 years. I don't blame him for not even wanting to go out on his nights off. However, we could never even have Christmas lunch together as a family, because when he'd come home he wouldn't even want to look at food.

"We didn't have a social life together, while for him, the job had a social aspect which I was left out of. He would wake up late, come home reeking of cooking oil. I wish he had been more understanding of me and I can see now that I needed to have a life outside the marriage. Nowadays that type of strain can drive young couples apart."

The night birds

It is not a cliché that 'things' may go on during the night shift more easily than they do during the day. No need to go into details. Not for nothing have employers tried to keep women away from night-time jobs in the past. But do watch out for trust issues that shift work may bring up in your relationships.

Night shifts have also been found to seriously have an adverse affect on workers' health. Night shift workers tend to drink more coffee and to have a higher body mass index. According to the UK's Health and Safety Executive, night-shift work causes desynchronisation of work and sleep periods with the circadian rhythm (body clock).

Such desynchrony leads to reduced alertness, fatigue, disturbances to sleep and to a person's normal metabolic response to meals consumed at night, consequently proving detrimental to health and safety.

Increased light at night was found to improve alertness and performance and may possibly improve metabolic responses to meals during night shifts.

Health and safety

Shift work seems to exacerbate every employment issue, and health and safety are no exception. Shift work is typical of responsible jobs in transportation, industry, health care and public safety.

Our biological development has not been able to keep pace with social developments. The disparity is apparent in problems associated with shift work. One of the most significant problems is fatigue. In Finland, for example, fatigue has been estimated to be the key factor in as many as 41 per cent of accidental injuries and deaths caused by human error.

Means of combating fatigue at work are the organisation of working hours. The chances of making mistakes are increased during any type of shift work. It is essential to minimise monotony and give the worker an active role.

Taking regular breaks during a long shift is also vital. Eye and back strain, repetitive strain injury, shorter sleep periods and varicose veins are just a few of the health problems that need to be tackled.

Shift work has been linked to higher risks of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancers. Exposure to any kinds of toxins, including photocopy machines and cigarette smoke, highlights the need for adequate ventilation and time-out. Hotel receptionists, for example, are often required to stand for hours, the women in high heels. Is this practice really necessary?

Ergonomically designed and well-lit work spaces are even more important when working long hours. Make sure that your employer is aware of all these factors and insist that you are allowed to take all of your breaks. Legally, the rest break is an uninterrupted period of not less than 15 minutes, and the worker is entitled to spend it away from his work station, if he has one.

Practical advice includes the use of support tights, comfortable, safe shoes and avoiding excessive carbohydrates in the form of pasta and bread in order to stay alert. Go easy on the coffee and fizzy drinks. Caffeine may help keep you awake, but heavy doses in the long term wear out the body depleting you of energy.

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health states that a single dose of caffeine is effective at the beginning of a night shift. They also suggest that a nap of 30 minutes during the night shift decreases the probability of lapses.

The trend towards a 24-hour-society means an increase in ergonomically unsuitable and potentially family-wrecking working hours. However, night shifts and weekend jobs still offer extra earning possibilities to anyone needing to moonlight.

It is a case of keeping your eyes open - literally - to the pitfalls. Keep abreast of research on health issues so that the benefits of shift work will continue to outweigh the downside.

CSB Recruitment Agency has been supporting the local business community with its services since 1987. For further information you can write to CSB at 185D Old Bakery Street, Valletta VLT 04, call 2123-2224 or 2123-2225, fax: 2123-2226, e-mail jobs@vacancycentre.com or visit www.VacancyCentre.com.