20th International Symposium on Shiftwork and Working Time: Biological Mechanisms, Recovery, and Risk Management in the 24-h Society

Abstract

This dedicated issue of Chronobiology International is devoted to the selected proceedings of the 20th International Symposium on Shift Work and Working Time held in Stockholm, Sweden, 28 June to 1 July 2011. It constitutes the fifth such issue of the journal since 2004 dedicated to the selected proceedings to the meetings of the Working Time Society. The key theme of the 20th Symposium was "Biological Mechanisms, Recovery, and Risk Management in the 24-h Society." The collection of papers of this dedicated issue represents the best of contemporary research on the effects of night and rotating shift schedules on worker health and safety. The contents cover such topics as sleep restriction, injuries, health, and performance of night work and rotating shiftwork, plus light treatment as a countermeasure against the circadian disruption of shiftwork. The majority of the papers are observational field studies, including some of large sample size, and three studies are well-designed laboratory experiments.

Healthy Diet and Reduction of Chronic Disease Risks of Night Shift Workers

“…Aside from obvious fatigue, other effects include the following: "Shift-lag syndrome", which is a group of symptoms such as sleeping and gastrointestinal disorders, tiredness, and poor job performance [14,15]; Gastrointestinal disorders characterized by constipation, digestive difficulties, flatulence, heartburn, stomach ache, loss of appetite, gastroduodenitis, ulcer, or irritable bowel syndrome [16]; Decreased quality of life: shift workers have difficulties in managing social and family relationships. This fact leads to a poor social life.…”

“…This fact leads to a poor social life. Childcare facilities can help shift workers with family, but they are few in number [15]; Associations between night shift work and chronic diseases are less clear and difficult to study, given the need for detailed exposure assessment and a long follow-up to ascertain chronic disease outcomes [15,17,18].…”

Working Time Society consensus statements: Evidence based interventions using light to improve circadian adaptation to working hours

“…In addition, the mechanisms for producing negative health effects have yet to be provided65, 66 ) . There are very few studies on the long-term health effects of light treatment in shiftwork as well as integrating the visual ergonomics and safety concerns at the workplace as pointed out by guest editors of the Chronobiology International67 ) . From a health perspective, long-term effects should be studied of systems that provide circadian adaptation to individuals who have limited daylight exposure due to work scheduling (e.g., night, early morning and evening shifts), work environment (e.g., windowless buildings) or other factors (e.g.…”

Working against the biological clock: a review for the Occupational Physician

“…It is well established that shift and night work, its duration, and worker age affect the risk of developing some chronic disorders. Night work has been associated with abdominal adiposity, obesity, T2D, MS, CVD, cancer, and disturbed sleep59, 104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117 ) . Lack of sleep disrupts the circadian clock, disconnecting the environmental cycle (dark-light) from the biological cycle (sleep-wake).…”