Night Shift=Graveyard Shift

Next month an arm of the World Health Organization will list shift work as a possible carcinogen. They're putting it in the same category as anabolic steroids, ultraviolet radiation and diesel engine exhaust.

If the theory holds true this could affect approx. 20% of the working population in developed countries.

The American Cancer Society says it would likely
add shift work to its list of ``known and probable carcinogens''
when the WHO makes its change. Up to now, the society has said
shift work has an ``uncertain'' effect.

But you get a whopping $.50 more an hour and no longer have to breath cigarette smoke.

I am not sure why it is cancer causing. Maybe all the illegal industrial activity goes on at night???

It's hard on your body. You're stressing your system when you fight your own biological processes to stay awake and labor when nature is yelling at you to sleep.

Maybe it's the lack of Vitamin D one naturally gets from sunshine? I dunno. BUT I do know some people who worked overnights were depressed and their body functions were outta whack.
MV

I've worked nights most of my adult life and I stayed awake nights during my summers as a kid. I have experienced some periods where I wanted to work days, but not many. I don't see why it would be a problem if that's what my body naturally adjust to. And what is this $.50 extra an hour you speak of? Someone must have forgot to tell my company.

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Correct!
I started on theGraveyard shift four years ago. The shift commences at 22.00 and terminates at 06.00. over 5 days.
The environment is noisy, dusty, and can become exhausting due to the heat generated in the workplace by the mechanised side of the industry.
Health & Safety is a standing joke and is conveinently placed on any individual who happens to be deployed in that area.
Meal reliefs are patchy and rushed. Smoking areas are unrealistically distant from the workplace and most employees are constantly thirsty or dehydrated.
Biorythms alter and the body clock desynchronises.
It's crap really but pays a better shift rate.
Is it worth it....? Not really!

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After working for 15 yrs for a co that gave me on & off graveyard shifts I think it's very unhealthy. I know that despite getting proper sleep during the day & eating very healthfully I never felt quite right, was less hungry in general & felt dazed & fatigued working nights. Isn't sleep a time when the body naturally detoxifies itself in a certain way? Maybe when biorythms are messed up this doesn't happen as well as it should?

Yes, this is true. Your conscious, laboring body produces a chemical (don't ask me what because I don't remember) that the body removes from your system during sleep. When your sleep pattern is disturbed, this chemical is not completely removed from your tissues and is one reason you feel rotten when you get up.

Thank the gods for COFFEE.

[edit on 11/29/2007 by PrplHrt]

I can atest to night shift being unhealthy. I work fulltime in a very high stress, fast paced environment, and a common problem with everyone I work with is that your body becomes so used to being sleep deprived, you stop being able to tell when you tired, apart from looking in a mirror, seeing the bags under the eyes and going "oh, I guess I'm tired".

As a result, we've all put on weight, because we simply don't have time to cook healthy meals, we've all got a wonderfull casper complexion, and constantly feel jet lagged. We're always loosing track of what day it is, and all of us have at least once dreamt about work. We're also always getting the flu/colds etc because our bodies are always pushed to the limit.

For the last two weeks I haven't been able to get more than 3hrs sleep/day, despite being completely drained 24/7. When I went for job, I was actually told in the very first interview, that the company expects everyone to burn out within 6months due to the lifestyle & pressures of the job...at least they give us good penalty rates.

Most guys usually have to take a month off before finding another job, because it takes that long for the body to recover and get some resemblance of normality back in your life.

The WHO adding shift work to their 'hit-list' is a nice feel good gesture, but what will it really achieve? Are global companies going to turn around and decide ok, we'll throw away our global operations centres, and try to manage multiple centres in multiple regions, just so people don't have to work night shift? I doubt it. From a business perspective it's just not feasible.

The best case scenario is that night workers get increased penalty rates or MAYBE slightly shorter shifts, but at the end of the day, they're still working nights, still for the most part working in complete opposition to their normal body clock and constantly being run-down & sick because of it.

FYI my shift is midnight - 9am. Add 1.5hrs travel to and from work, and it doesn't leave much time for leading a healthy life

I've worked a couple of graveyards in my day, and it's really the person doing the work that makes the difference.

Some people simply can't work days - for a multitude of reasons. Far be it for me to profess to speak for everyone on the night shift out there, but in my husbands case - it's a godsend. He couldn't work dayshift any more than some people can't work nightshift.

Just remember - not everyones metobolism is the same.

Do you have a source for this? where did you get this info?

Can you post a link?

I have worked from 8pm - 8am for the last 5 years. I only work half the week though, so that is nice. But flipping your schedule twice a week is hell on my body. I am not sure if the 12% pay bump is worth it. Unfortunately it just isn't as easy as deciding that you want to work days. You have to wait for a position to open up.

Me too. I have worked 2nd and 3rd shift almost every job I've ever had. I have probably only worked first shift 6% of the time over the last 22 years. I simply do not like working during the day that much. It makes me feel bad when I am at work and I know the sun is shining outside and I am stuck working. I much rather enjoy working night shift for a few reasons.

A lot of places will pay a premium for shift work other than 1st. The extra pay is one reason. Second, there is usually less supervision. I have seen way too many times where a first shift position has 28 chiefs and very few indians. It is more laid back in my opinion (read less stress). And the traffic on the highway is sometimes less because when you are going to and from work, most people are doing the opposite, but this varies.

The only time working night shift is stressful is when you abruptly change your schedule, then it is difficult to stay alert, but if you are well used to it and try not to be a weekend warrior and live in the daylight on your time off, then you will not have a problem. ALthough some people do get depressed if they never see sunshine, kinda like living in a perpetual winter time. That is not my case, I sleep in late and do not go to work until 3pm, then off at 11pm, which is still the same day. I can choose to stay up all night or go to bed and wake early.

I think this whole nightshift causes cancer may be from ancillary causes.

reply to post by PrplHrt

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Tell me about it, I'm working a twelve hour shift as I type this.
Its 2:17am here in NYC and I'm beat.

I wonder if it does cause an illness does one have gound for legal action?

[edit on 30-11-2007 by miguelbmx]

All excellent points. The less supervision point is true for both the military and civilian jobs alike. Most of my jobs had me in a windowless building and like you said, you get that perpetual winter time feeling living in the dark. While in the Military, I perferred swing shift because when there was no work, we went on a telephone standby or cutback totally. I took that shift when I retired, but found that in the civilian world, swing shift is rough on family life. You actually had to work for a living. There was 4 years there where the only time I saw them was in the summer and weekends. I wouldn't mind going back to a 4PM to Midnight again, but currently I'm working a four day week, Thurs to Sun, two 8hr and two 12hr shifts. I get enough sunshine and only about 10 minutes of having to deal with a Supervisor.

To Nortrider...
my source is/was the AP Newswire.

50 cents?! i work the night shift on the weekends because i am a college student and it works out perfect. and i get an extra 2.50 an hour for it! each shift at my job has a base pay and a shift differential that is added on to it. if you work 1st shift you get no shift dif. if you work 2nd its 1.50 and 3rd is 2.50. plus our base rate goes with cost of living each year and market competition so the shift differential doesnt effect our raises or what the base rate is in general.

so im 22 working at a hospital as a registration girl...i get paid 14 an hour and 2.50 extra on top of that. plus paid vacation when i want it....and if i call in sick i still get paid if im not there. (in 3 years ive called in 2 times for sickness) and a 500 dollar christmas bonus every year and i only am required to work 2 holidays a year of my choosing.

i live in rockford illinois, cost of living isnt terribly high and like i said, im a college student so i live in a dorm, and my parents pay for my college.

the only reason why i work the night shift is because of all the perks and it makes it so i can go to school fulltime and do good in my studies. whoever these employeers are that are shafting their in employees with a little 50 cent an hour add are pretty brash.


cheers to the graveyard shift!
digitalgrl

reply to post by moonvibe

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Yes, I believe it. You might also be interested in the back side of this issue.
Yesterday, one of the main items on the news, was the following:

www.theglobeandmail.com...

Talk about coincidence. Few minutes ago was reading following article
cancerres.aacrjournals.org...
about cancer growth and nocturnal light conditions,and now the issue resurfaces.
Day shifts from now on!!!!
Actually started digging since today was supposed to be a discussion to allow only fluoroscent lighting in government institutions due to enviromental reasons(in Israel), and certain professor claimed that it actually causes cancer. Amazed, tried to find something in PubMed, didn't find anything specific about fluoroscent, but about bright lighting during night cycle. Spooky.

Good post. I saw that article also. It makes you think about the nightmare scenarios, where an asteroid causes "nuclear winter", or the old dinosaur and asteroid theory. Maybe this was a factor. LOL!