Shift work and occupational medicine: an overview.

In modern society, more and more people work during 'non-standard' working hours, including shift and night work, which are recognized risk factors for health, safety and social well-being. Suitable preventive and protective measures are required to mitigate the adverse effects and ensure that the worker can cope satisfactorily. These are based mainly on the organization of shift schedules according to ergonomic criteria and on specific medical surveillance. Occupational medicine has to consider very carefully the several factors (psycho-physiological, pathological and social) that can influence tolerance and/or maladaptation.

[1]  K Kogi,et al.  Conditions of working life of women textile workers in Thailand on day and shift work systems. , 1982, Journal of human ergology.

[2]  F Nachreiner,et al.  Individual and social determinants of shiftwork tolerance. , 1998, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[3]  F. Nachreiner,et al.  Working shifts—different effects for women and men? , 1995 .

[4]  J Rutenfranz,et al.  Occupational health measures for night- and shiftworkers. , 1982, Journal of human ergology.

[5]  J LaDou,et al.  Shiftwork: effects on sleep and health with recommendations for medical surveillance and screening. , 1990, Occupational medicine.

[6]  S. Folkard,et al.  Shift work, safety and productivity. , 2003, Occupational medicine.

[7]  K Kogi,et al.  Improving shift workers' health and tolerance to shiftwork: recent advances. , 1996, Applied ergonomics.

[8]  G. Costa.  The impact of shift and night work on health. , 1996, Applied ergonomics.

[9]  T. Monk,et al.  Hours of work : temporal factors in work scheduling , 1985 .

[10]  Giovanni Costa,et al.  Factors influencing health of workers and tolerance to shift work , 2003 .

[11]  M. Härmä.  Ageing, physical fitness and shiftwork tolerance. , 1996, Applied ergonomics.

[12]  A. Reinberg,et al.  Clinical chronobiology: relevance and applications to the practice of occupational medicine. , 1990, Occupational medicine.

[13]  D. Tepas.  Educational programmes for shiftworkers, their families, and prospective shiftworkers , 1993 .

[14]  K. Krishnan,et al.  Assessment of occupational health risk during unusual workshifts: review of the needs and solutions for modifying environmental and biological limit values for volatile organic solvents. , 1992, Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique.

[15]  M. Koller,et al.  Occupational health services for shift and night workers. , 1996, Applied ergonomics.

[16]  K Kogi,et al.  Shiftwork in developing countries: current issues and trends. , 1990, Occupational medicine.

[17]  G. Costa,et al.  Guidelines for the medical surveillance of shift workers. , 1998, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[18]  J. Waterhouse,et al.  Circadian rhythms and their mechanisms , 1986, Experientia.

[19]  M. Härmä,et al.  Individual differences in tolerance to shiftwork: a review. , 1993, Ergonomics.

[20]  M. Moore-Ede,et al.  The Twenty-Four-Hour Society: Understanding Human Limits in a World That Never Stops , 1994 .

[21]  H. Presser,et al.  Toward a 24-Hour Economy , 1999, Science.

[22]  M. Colligan,et al.  Shiftwork effects on social and family life. , 1990, Occupational medicine.

[23]  T. Åkerstedt,et al.  Shift work and disturbed sleep/wakefulness. , 2003, Sleep medicine reviews.

[24]  Bohle,et al.  Work/Non-work Conflict and Health in Shiftwork: Relationships with Family Status and Social Support. , 1997, International journal of occupational and environmental health.

[25]  J. Harrington,et al.  Shift work and health: A critical review of the literature , 1978 .

[26]  P. Knauth,et al.  Preventive and compensatory measures for shift workers. , 2003, Occupational medicine.

[27]  S Folkard,et al.  Chronobiology and shift work: current issues and trends. , 1990, Chronobiologia.

[28]  P. Bohle,et al.  Effects of coping strategies, social support and work-nonwork conflict on shift worker's health. , 1998, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[29]  A. Knutsson,et al.  Health disorders of shift workers. , 2003, Occupational medicine.

[30]  G Costa,et al.  The 24-hour society between myth and reality. , 2001, Journal of human ergology.

[31]  S Folkard,et al.  Maintaining safety and high performance on shiftwork. , 1996, Applied ergonomics.