Night shifts should be limited to eight hours, says foundation

Night shifts should be limited to a maximum of eight hours to protect the health of workers, says a report by the social innovation group the Young Foundation.

European Union and UK regulations on working times restrict night shifts to eight hours in every 24 hour period, although they average the working times over 17 week blocks, allowing employees to work up to 12 or 13 hours at a time. Many full shift rotas in the United Kingdom’s health services require junior doctors to work seven consecutive night shifts of 13 hours, a survey of medical specialist registrars by the Royal College of Physicians found.

Night workers are three times as likely to have an accident at work as workers on other shift patterns. Furthermore, a US study of almost 3000 junior doctors reported that doctors on night shifts were almost twice as likely to have a car crash on the drive home than were those on normal shifts. One junior doctor interviewed for the Young Foundation’s report had had a near fatal car crash when he fell asleep at the wheel after a night shift.

People who regularly work night shifts are also at higher risk of breast and other forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disorders, and pregnancy problems.

“We recommend that the legislation should be changed to limit night shifts to a maximum of eight hours—with clear guidelines for overtime,” says the report.

• • Rough Nights: The Growing Dangers of Working at Night is at www.youngfoundation.org/files/images/Rough_Nights.pdf.