Field Study Confirms the Belief That Keeping Busy Helps Control Room Operators Sustain Alertness During the Night Shift

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jensen R
• Description:
  Control room operators in a nuclear power plant participated in this on-site study to test the belief that keeping busy helps sustain alertness. Since circadian rhythms strongly affect alertness, the study was designed to account for different times of the 24-hour day. The participating reactor operators worked rotating 8-hour shifts in the control room. Every 20 minutes they reported their alertness and their workload during the preceding period. These ratings were obtained throughout three of each shift, for a total of nine shifts and 560 pairs of ratings. Reduced alertness ratings (2 and 3 on the 9-point alertness scale) occurred only during the early morning hours. For these hours, results indicated a significant positive relationship between alertness and workload, with lower alertness ratings tending to occur following 20 minutes of low workload. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Circadian Rhythm Fatigue Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Alertness Author Keywords: Nuclear Power Circadian Rhythms Nuclear Power Plants Nuclear Reactors Process Operators Reactor Operators Shiftwork Shift Workers Work Intervals Workload

  More +
• ISSN:
  2351-9789
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Montana ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064016
• Citation:
  Procedia Manuf 2015 Oct; 3:1297-1304
• Contact Point Address:
  Roger Jensen, Montana Tech, 1300 W. Park St., Butte, Montana 59701
• Email:
  rjensen@mtech.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Montana Technological University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Procedia Manufacturing
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:46b6a8c5ad773c06ac5eacb2a6ccbf001cda007731fcae1e781b33bb94693d1b196fa9c7507af8939774826dc4611c5d74544c4d8932b8f12c7f56332136d683
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222543/cdc_222543_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 122.46 KB ]