Extended Workshifts and Excessive Fatigue

Details

• Personal Author:
  Rosa, Roger R.
• Description:
  Studies of overtime have pointed to fatigue as a potential factor producing, for example, a three-fold increase in accident rate after 16 h of work, increases in back injuries, hospital outbreaks of bacterial infection, or nuclear-power plant safety compromises. Fatigue has been measured more directly in studies of scheduled long workshifts, where performance decrements in both work-related tasks and laboratory-type behavioural tests have been observed, and significant loss of sleep and increases in subjective sleepiness have been reported. Analyses of accidents or injuries during scheduled extended workshifts, however, have produced equivocal results. Factors which could compound the fatiguing effects of extended workshifts, such as workload, noise, chemical exposure, or duties and responsibilities outside of the workplace, rarely have been studied systematically. It is concluded that extended workshift schedules should be instituted cautiously and evaluated carefully, with appropriate attention given to staffing levels, workload, job rotation, environmental exposures, emergency contingencies, rest breaks, commuting time, and social or domestic responsibilities. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Fatigue Hypersensitivity Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Safety Shift Work Schedule Sleep Sleep Initiation And Maintenance Disorders Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Accidents Chemical-hypersensitivity Ear-examinations Environmental-exposure Environmental-hazards Long Work Hours Noise-sources Overtime Performance Decrements Physiological-effects Physiological-factors Physiological-fatigue Physiological-measurements Physiological-response Shift-work Sleep-deprivation Sleep Loss Work-environment Workplace-studies Work Scheduling

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• ISSN:
  0962-1105
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DBBS - Division of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  51-56
• Volume:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034888
• Citation:
  J Sleep Res 1995 Dec; 4(Suppl 2):51-56
• Contact Point Address:
  Roger R. Rosa, CDC, NIOSH, Division of Biomedical and Behavioral Science, Taft Laboratories, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Mail Stop C-24, Cincinnati, OH 45224
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Sleep Research
• Supplement:
  2
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3cb567665f8d1cbc56275ff8d90223aedc593f09232ae356101271139d41eac5df9f275b8bd06f690b5f1f287cf4f6ea66ec6a94261d468a174365e733f852f2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186930/cdc_186930_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.26 MB ]