The Use and Health Consequences of Shift Work

Abstract

The amount of shift work has increased dramatically in all industrialized nations during the past 30 years. In the United States, more than one-quarter of workers do shift work. The proportion of shift workers is highest in service and large-scale, capital-intensive industries. Shift work has spread subsequent to the rise of industrialization and the development of large corporations. It is used primarily to maximize the profits of the owners of these industries. On the other hand, it has substantial social and economic costs in terms of the ill health of shift workers. They suffer significantly more sleeping disturbances, nervous troubles, and disturbances of the alimentary tract. They also report disruptions in their family and social lives.

The adverse consequences of shift work could be decreased by designing physiologically and socially appropriate shift schedules and by providing necessary additional services for shift workers. Unfortunately, these changes will be inadequate unless they are accompanied by efforts on the national level to restrict the use of shift work. Workers must push for laws restricting shift work to industries where it is technically necessary. Since shift work is really only one manifestation of the increasingly complex social and technical organization of work forced on workers in the drive to maximize profits, they must ultimately act together to gain control over their working conditions.