Working Nights

WSJ Covers Heart Risk at Work and Seasonal Affective Disorder

There were two articles in the Wall Street Journal today that are significant to shift workers. One story is about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and the other’s about a new study reporting that men who didn’t confront colleagues or bosses who treated them unfairly doubled their risk of heart attack.

Seasonal Affective Disorder – the article states that SAD “affects an estimated 6% of Americans, causing depression, lethargy, irritability and a desire to avoid social situations. It can also create an urge to overeat, particularly carbohydrates. As many as 15% of people in the U.S. may have a milder version that includes only some of these symptoms.” What the article leaves out, that all shift workers know, is that SAD symptoms are routinely felt by workers at jobs outside the normal day-time hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. See more about this in our articles on Vitamin D and Serotonin.

Reducing Heart Risk with Confrontation – the lead researcher from Stockholm University and her research partners asked 2,755 men how they typically responded to unfair treatment at work. Those who said they just let it pass and said/did nothing had significantly more heart attacks during the next ten years. After adjusting for age, socio-economic factors, risk behaviors, job strain, and biological risk factors, the risk of heart and death from a cardiovascular event was 2.3 times greater than it was for those who said they confronted those treating them unfairly. Read more about how shift workers can manage stress on the job and about controlling bullying at work.

To read the two Wall Street Journal articles:

Seasonal Affective Disorder
Reducing Heart Risk with Confrontation

©2009Circadian Age, Inc. ‘Working Nights”

Yale Murder Highlights Workplace Violence Risks

According to The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), two million Americans are subject to workplace violence each year. Defined as a threat of violence or an actual violent action taken against workers, some recent cases have heightened concerns about workplace violence. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data indicates that fatal occupational injuries due to assaults and violent acts were actually down 8% between 2007 and 2008 (864 in 2007 to 794 in 2008). But, during the same period, office suicides reached an all time high since the data has been captured by the BLS (251 in 2008 compared to 196 in 2007) – a 28% increase.

In January 2009, a survey of risk security practitioners by Security Director News found that despite all the recent focus on terrorism, 49% reported that workplace violence topped their security concerns.

Which workplaces are the most violent and how can we make all of our workplaces more safe?
Read this article…

Another Important Reason to Assess Levels of Vitamin D

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among those with diabetes. And, according to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, people with diabetes and low Vitamin D have more than double the risk of cardiovascular disease. One possible reason (according to the study’s authors) – diabetics who are deficient in vitamin D don’t process cholesterol normally, so it builds up in their blood vessels and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Why is this important to shift workers? Because some studies have shown that shift workers may have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes and shift workers are also are at a greater risk of having a vitamin D deficiency. This study may provide more support for why shift workers have a greater likelihood of suffering from cardiovascular disease. And, it also sheds some light on a possible way to reduce the risk of heart disease – besides exercise, good nutrition, and maintaining proper weight, make sure you get enough vitamin D.
Read this article…

Feeling the Impacts of Chronic Stress Brings You Back to Old Habits

Do you feel frazzled and overwhelmed? Are you having trouble sleeping? Are you anxious and impatient? These are just some of the symptoms of chronic stress. According to a new study, the effects of chronic stress force us back into old habits. And this may actually cause us to make bad decisions because in some situations, we are better off inhibiting a habit and instead using a goal oriented strategy – an effort that will force us to approach the situation differently. But when we are stressed we are more likely to just fall back on our habitual approach to dealing with the situation as opposed to being creative and forging a new path.
Read this article…

Preventing Accidents and Injuries at Work

Besides general health risks, shift workers also face a wide range of faster-acting dangers. Every seven seconds another worker gets injured, and every day, machinery accidents, falls, crashes, and other accidents take lives. Older workers and minority workers face higher injury and fatality rates. Read here the startling facts about on-the-job death and injury, the financial and health costs, the facts of why accidents happen and tips for making work a safer place. Read this article…

Running on Empty- Safe Driving on a Shift Work Schedule

While people worry about the dangers of sky diving, bungee jumping, and other death-defying activities, in fact one of the most dangerous things you can do is turn that little metal key in your car every day. In the U.S., someone dies in a car accident once every 13 seconds. Since shift workers experience many of the symptoms that are the most frequent causes of car crashes- fatigue and drowsiness, nodding off from lack of sleep, drug use, and use of sleep aids- driving safety is especially important from shift workers. The perils of a commute after a long day (or especially after working nights) can be deadly.
Read this article…

The Impact of Fatigue on Driving

Most people know that driving after drinking enough alcohol could be a death wish, but driving home after a seemingly endless shift could be equally dangerous. After 22 hours without sleep, you act the same behind the wheel as if you had a blood alcohol level of 0.08, the legal driving limit. It won’t get you pulled over (yet, although several states have laws pending to outlaw driving while drowsy) but falling asleep at the wheel can send you hurtling towards a tree or another vehicle with no control over your car just as easily as alcohol or drugs can. The urge to reach home and bed can sometimes overtake caution on the road. Truck drivers and night-owl teens are also greatly affected by this risk, which often goes unnoticed in our up-and-at-’em culture. Read this article…

Improving Workplace Safety and Security

As if shift work’s threat of injury, increased rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes weren’t enough, as well as the potential for cancer hanging over your head, it turns out shift work can kill you much faster than any of those options. The good news is that taking care for your safety, simply paying attention, and getting enough sleep so drowsiness doesn’t hit you at the wrong time can hugely lower your risks on the job. In fact, the danger that causes the most shift worker fatalities is something that almost every person- day worker, night worker, shift worker, or unemployed- does every day. This danger is simply driving on the highway. Other dangers include working with machinery and robbery and homicide, especially for people coming home after a night shift. Read more to learn about surprising dangers and how to keep yourself safe. Read this article…