Perceptions of the impact of non-standard work schedules on health in Australian graduates: an exploratory study

Abstract

Non-standard working hours are associated with negative health outcomes. However, little is known about the early years of exposure to non-standard work hours, or whether workers new to these work schedules perceive their work as impacting their health. This limits our ability to develop meaningful intervention strategies for transitioning into non-standard work hour schedules. This exploratory study investigated whether recent Australian graduates in various nonstandard workhour schedules perceive that their work schedule negatively impacts their health. The responses of 120 graduates within four years of completing their tertiary qualification collected from an online survey were analysed. Graduates were asked whether they perceived their work arrangements as impacting their health. Significantly more of those who were engaged in non-standard work schedules or worked beyond contracted hours perceived their working arrangements as having an impact on their health. This study highlights the importance of studying workers' perceptions of the impact of work hours on health, particularly when workers may be experiencing good global health but be at risk for negative health outcomes in future.

Physical and psychological health in intern paramedics commencing shift work: Protocol for an exploratory longitudinal study

“…Shift work risk perception. This 5-item measure was developed by the present study author (MEC), and is based on both previous evidence of health risk perception in shift workers [45] and the cardiovascular risk perception scale [46]. The scale aims to examine whether shift workers perceive shift work as a risk to their health (S2 Appendix), and whether this changes with onset of shift work.…”