Search

Dissatisfaction with shiftwork has been shown to increase with age and work experience. The objective was to determine if differences in preferred paid work time existed between shiftworkers with different lengths of shiftwork experience and age-matched non-shiftworkers (controls). A questionnaire was used to determine how controls and shiftworkers with different shiftwork experience perceived the value of preferred work time across the week. Participants were required to value each hour across the days of the week on a scale from 0 (least preference) to 10 (highest preference). Data were analysed across groups to produce mean and standard deviation matrices. Unpaired t-tests determined significant differences between groups. This study found that preferred hours-of-work change with years of shiftwork experience. For shiftworkers in their first 5 years and those in their 30th-year-plus of shiftwork, night work was a low priority. Shiftworkers with 17 - 30 years experience indicated a preference for work any time across the week. Overall, shiftworkers extended their preferred work hours to include the evenings and weekend. Controls adhered more strongly to current societal norms. The results suggest that a person initially undertaking shiftwork may well be one with a less restrictive perception of time and its use, however, this perception may alter over time.

This study aimed to provide a comparative index of the performance impairment associated with the fatigue levels frequently experienced in workplaces that require night work. To do this, we equated fatigue-related impairment with the impairment resulting from varying levels of alcohol intoxication. Fifteen young individuals participated in two counterbalanced conditions which required them to (1). 'work' seven consecutive 8-h night shifts, and (2). consume an alcoholic beverage at hourly intervals until their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reached 0.10%. In each condition, performance was measured at hourly intervals using a 10-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT). Analysis indicated that as BAC increased, performance impairment significantly increased. Similarly, response times significantly increased during the first six simulated night-shifts, and lapse frequency significantly increased during the first two shifts. Equating the two conditions indicated that the first simulated night shift was associated with the greatest degree of performance impairment. In general, the impairment at the end of this shift was greater than that observed at a BAC of 0.10%. During the second and third simulated night shifts, the performance impairment was less than on the first night, but greater than that observed at a BAC of 0.05%. For the final four nights, the performance decrements generally did not exceed those observed at a BAC of 0.05%. This suggests that during a week of consecutive night shifts, adaptation of performance occurs.