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The purpose was to investigate which detailed characteristics of shift schedules that are seen as problems to those exposed. A representative national sample of non-day workers (N = 2031) in Sweden was asked whether they had each of a number of particular work schedule characteristics and, if yes, to what extent this constituted a "big problem in life". It was also inquired whether the individual's work schedules had negative consequences for fatigue, sleep and social life. The characteristic with the highest percentage reporting a big problem was "short notice (<1 month) of a new work schedule" (30.5%), <11 h off between shifts (27.8%), and split duty (>1.5 h break at mid-shift, 27.2%). Overtime (>10 h/week), night work, morning work, day/night shifts showed lower prevalences of being a "big problem". Women indicated more problems in general. Short notice was mainly related to negative social effects, while <11 h off between shifts was related to disturbed sleep, fatigue and social difficulties. It was concluded that schedules involving unpredictable working hours (short notice), short daily rest between shifts, and split duty shifts constitute big problems. The results challenge current views of what aspects of shift work need improvement, and negative social consequences seem more important than those related to health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Insufficient time for recovery between workdays may cause fatigue and disturbed sleep. This study evaluated the impact of an intervention that reduced weekly working hours by 25% on sleep, sleepiness and perceived stress for employees within the public sector. Method Participating workplaces (N=33) were randomized into intervention and control groups. Participants (N=580, 76% women) worked full-time at baseline. The intervention group (N=354) reduced worktime to 75% with preserved salary during 18 months. Data were collected at baseline and after 9 and 18 months follow-up. Sleep quality, sleep duration, sleepiness, perceived stress, and worries and stress at bedtime were measured with diary during one week per data collection. Result A multilevel mixed model showed that compared with the control group, at the 18-month follow-up, the intervention group had improved sleep quality and sleep duration (+23 minutes) and displayed reduced levels of sleepiness, perceived stress, and worries and stress at bedtime on workdays (P<0.002). The same effects were shown for days off (P<0.006), except for sleep length. Effect sizes were small (Cohen's f2<0.08). Adding gender, age, having children living at home, and baseline values of sleep quality and worries and stress at bedtime as additional between-group factors did not influence the results. Conclusion A 25% reduction of weekly work hours with retained salary resulted in beneficial effects on sleep, sleepiness and perceived stress both on workdays and days off. These effects were maintained over an 18-month period. This randomized intervention thus indicates that reduced worktime may improve recovery and perceived stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driver fatigue has received increased attention during recent years and is now considered to be a major contributor to approximately 15-30% of all crashes. However, little is known about fatigue in city bus drivers. It is hypothesized that city bus drivers suffer from sleepiness, which is due to a combination of working conditions, lack of health and reduced sleep quantity and quality. The overall aim with the current study is to investigate if severe driver sleepiness, as indicated by subjective reports of having to fight sleep while driving, is a problem for city based bus drivers in Sweden and if so, to identify the determinants related to working conditions, health and sleep which contribute towards this. The results indicate that driver sleepiness is a problem for city bus drivers, with 19% having to fight to stay awake while driving the bus 2-3 times each week or more and nearly half experiencing this at least 2-4 times per month. In conclusion, severe sleepiness, as indicated by having to fight sleep during driving, was common among the city bus drivers. Severe sleepiness correlated with fatigue related safety risks, such as near crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study conducted on 46 subjects to investigate the impact of stress on sleep. It reveals that polysomnographic data of 33 individuals were collected whereas 13 did not completed the full protocol because of minor disease and work schedules. It mentions that all participants were given a self-administered questionnaire based on their social and demographic background such as smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various topics within the issue including work time flexibility in companies, health of workers and relation of working hours with productivity in a company.

Abstract: Previous studies indicate that the effect of a given shift schedule may depend on individual factors. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a misfit between individual preferences and actual working hours affected the association between working hours and self-reported indicators of health and well-being. The study population consisted of 173 female eldercare workers who mainly worked day or evening shifts. We combined self-reported questionnaire data on preferences with actual work schedules during a four-week period. The study showed that a misfit between preferences on one hand and “non-day work”, “weekend work” or “only a few consecutive days off” on the other hand was associated with an increased dissatisfaction with working hours and/or an increase in the intention to leave the workplace due to one''s working hours. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this narrative review, we examined what level of research evidence is available that shift workers' sleep-wake disturbances can be minimized through ergonomic shift scheduling. We classified the pertinent studies conducted on real shift workers in field conditions by the type of shift system and study design (ie, whether the shift systems were modified or not - "treatment" versus "no treatment"). The results of the observational studies in which no changes to the shift system were made (ie, no treatment) showed that, irrespective of the shift system, night and early-morning shifts and quick returns are associated with short sleep and increases in sleepiness. The same is true for very long shifts (>16 hours) and extremely long weekly working hours (>55 hours). For all categories of shift systems, there were a lack of controlled intervention studies, limiting the possibility to provide solution-focused recommendations for shift scheduling. Most of the controlled intervention studies had been conducted on workers under regular 3-shift systems. These studies suggested that a change from slowly backward-rotating shifts to rapidly forward-rotating shifts is advantageous for alertness and, to some degree, sleep. We also found that a change from an 8- to 12-hour shift system does not necessarily result in impairments in the sleep-wake pattern. The level of research evidence was affected by many of the studies' frequent methodological limitations in measuring sleep and sleepiness. In all, to have reliable and solution-focused recommendations for shift scheduling, methodologically sound controlled intervention studies are required in different categories of shift systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It is often claimed that shift workers give priority to long series of days off and therefore prefer compressed work schedules at the expense of what is optimal for long-term health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the attitude to six new shift systems among a randomly selected sample of police officers. The results showed that the most popular shift system was a rapidly, forward, rotating schedule with at least 16h of rest between shifts, despite that it had fewer days off compared with some of the compressed shift systems. However, the individual differences were large and many individuals (32%) disliked the rapidly rotating shift system. Young age was associated with a positive attitude to the rapidly rotating shift system. The attitude to the shift system was also influenced by the present schedule, and shift systems that were similar to the present work hours received more positive evaluation. Sleep and health complaints showed no association with the attitude to the shift systems. In conclusion, the shift workers attitude to the new schedules was partly in agreement with the ergonomic recommendations of the design of three-shift systems that will facilitate sufficient sleep and minimize negative health consequences. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses on a study addressing the effects of flexible shift system based on self-determined work hours with respect to sleep/wake complaints and subjective health in police officers. The secondary aim was to analyze the relation between work hour characteristics indicating compressed or difficult rosters and subjective sleep and sleepiness within the flexible shift system group. Results showed that the group did not differ with respect to sleep/wake complaints and subjective health.

Emeryville, California's Fair Workweek Ordinance (FWO) aimed to reduce service workers' schedule unpredictability by requiring large retail and food service employers to provide advanced notice of schedules and to compensate workers for last-minute schedule changes. From ninety-six workers with young children (N = 78 in longitudinal analyses; 58 percent working in regulated businesses at baseline), this study gathered daily reports of work schedule unpredictability and worker and family well-being over three waves before and after FWO implementation. The FWO decreased working parents' schedule unpredictability and improved their well-being relative to those in similar jobs at unregulated establishments. The FWO also decreased parents' days worked while increasing hours per work day, leaving total hours roughly unchanged. Finally, parent well-being improved and declines in sleep difficulty were significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]