{"id":386942,"date":"2026-01-02T13:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T13:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386942\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T13:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T13:42:13","slug":"the-perfect-way-to-look-after-your-health-if-you-work-shifts-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386942\/","title":{"rendered":"The perfect way to look after your health if you work shifts | Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Approximately 8.7 million people<\/a> in the UK work night shifts, but humans are not meant to be awake at night. \u201cIt goes against our natural circadian cycle,\u201d says Steven Lockley, visiting professor at the Surrey Sleep Research Centre, University of Surrey. \u201cWe have a clock in the hypothalamus in the brain, and that clock has evolved to control many aspects of our physiology.\u201d This includes metabolism and immune system, hormones, and heart, lung and brain function. \u201cWe\u2019ve evolved to be awake in the daytime and asleep at night. When we do shift work, we\u2019re going against what our natural rhythms want us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is true not just for those who work in the dead of night, but for those who work early and evening shifts. It means, says Lockley, \u201cyou\u2019re not sleeping at the right time. Night shifts are the worst example, but all of these [shift patterns] move away from the circadian desire to keep a stable sleep-wake cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The knock-on effects on systemic health are many: \u201cWe know that shift workers have a higher risk of heart disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, stroke, depression, anxiety and some types of cancer.\u201d The World Health<\/a> Organization has classified shift work as \u201cprobably carcinogenic\u201d. Depression is more likely. Working nights can raise cortisol levels, and impair cognition and memory. \u201cWhen you mess up the circadian clock, you mess up all the systems it controls. For example, shift workers were at a much higher risk of contracting Covid that led to hospitalisation than non-shift workers,\u201d says Lockley. Shift workers are more likely to smoke, and more likely to have relationship breakdowns.<\/p>\n

Many shift working jobs are essential, but lots are not. \u201cSo the first question for society is: should we have shift work?\u201d says Lockley. Yes if it\u2019s for the emergency services, and hospital and care work. It\u2019s harder to justify for restaurants, supermarkets, 24-hour news and radio, many cleaning staff, online shopping warehouse pickers, and all the other conveniences of modern life.<\/p>\n

In a survey of workers from five unions by Sian Moore, professor of work and employment at Anglia Ruskin University, some said that working nights fits in with their life, \u201cbut even then, when you talk to them about their sleep, it\u2019s pretty appalling\u201d. It\u2019s a \u201cconstrained choice\u201d, she says \u2013 it was part of their job description, or people would take night shifts for the extra money, and many did it for childcare reasons, including being able to make school runs.<\/p>\n

So if shift work is probably here to stay, \u201cit\u2019s about what you can do to mitigate it\u201d, says Russell Foster, director of the Sir Jules Thorn Sleep<\/a> and Circadian Neuroscience Institute at the University of Oxford, and author of Life Time, about the human body clock. More frequent health checks for long-term night shift workers, especially focusing on type 2 diabetes and obesity, should be done, he says, to spot \u201cissues before they become chronic\u201d. Employers should provide this, but if they don\u2019t, an individual would do well to \u201ctake that seriously, particularly in the areas of metabolic abnormalities, where the data is clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lockley suggests taking steps to avoid accidents when working nights. \u201cWe know that night shift workers have a higher risk of accidents and injuries [at work], and they have a higher risk of a crash, particularly on the drive home,\u201d says Lockley. One study found that after four consecutive night shifts, the risk of workplace injuries was 36% higher. Medical errors are more common on night shifts, staffed by fatigued doctors and nurses, raising patient safety concerns; night-time healthcare workers are also more likely to suffer \u201cneedlestick\u201d or sharps injuries than those working during the day.<\/p>\n

More thought should be given to rota patterns, says Lockley. Photograph: Posed by models; Maskot\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

These immediate dangers can be tackled by companies and institutions. In Australia, where Foster was a visiting professor, he was struck by how hospitals would provide taxis for people to get home, eliminating the need to drive home while trying to stay awake. People who are driving after a night shift should be provided with a device or app that monitors eye roll and head nodding (or signs of \u201cmicrosleeps\u201d), he says.<\/p>\n

More thought should be given to rota patterns, says Lockley. \u201cThere are worse and better ways to design a shift rota.\u201d Employees\u2019 night shifts should be minimised, and the transition between day and night should be managed. \u201cGoing from day to evening to nights is better. Try to avoid quick returns, where someone does an evening shift tonight and the morning shift tomorrow.\u201d When he did a study with a healthcare trust, applying those rules to resident doctor schedules, \u201cwe saw about a 30% fall in serious medical errors because we reorganised the shift patterns in a more circadian-friendly way\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lighting in the workplace is another key factor. Cooler, bluish light, \u201cmakes the brain think it\u2019s daytime, essentially. Just looking at the lightbulbs in the workplace would be a good way to start to look at alertness on duty\u201d. Lockley also says that while screening for sleep disorders can improve the health of all employees, it may have a greater impact for those working nights. \u201cIf you have an undiagnosed sleep disorder, then you\u2019re not going to sleep as well, you\u2019re not going to recover, and you\u2019re going to be more sleepy at work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your natural chronotype \u2013 whether you\u2019re an owl or lark, feeling more alert in the evening or the morning \u2013 will affect how you deal with a night shift, but very few people, even the most owlish, can adapt to working nights. Foster says 97% of people can\u2019t. One study showed that oil rig workers \u2013 who work under bright lights at night, then sleep in dark windowless rooms in the day \u2013 can adjust towards the end of a two-week stint of working nights, but very few people, points out Lockley, can or would want to \u201clive in a completely nocturnal way. When you\u2019ve got days off, holidays, gaps between shifts, you end up reverting back\u201d.<\/p>\n

Many employers are taking the harms of night shift working seriously (Lockley is working with St George\u2019s hospital in London, which has been awarded a grant to develop a health programme for night shift workers). But there is a sense, says Moore, that many employers are failing to protect staff. \u201cSome of the fatigue assessments that were done in the past aren\u2019t being done properly. People would have physical checkups, which are often now just done by surveys. Occupational health [services], something that might have been in place before, is not there. I feel things have got worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

In any case, it usually falls to individuals to put measures in place to survive the night shift. It\u2019s hard to give generic advice, says Lockley, because so much is dependent on the shift itself, preceding shifts, a person\u2019s chronotype and other variables (he has developed an app, Timeshifter, for jet lag and shift work, in which someone can put this type of information in to get an individual programme, including helping you plan when to seek light and caffeine).<\/p>\n

But there are some broad rules. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is key, but eating well on a night shift when often the only food available is from takeaways or vending machines is notoriously difficult. There isn\u2019t much evidence for taking supplements, except for vitamin D (shift workers don\u2019t get as much sunlight). Exercise is vital. \u201cThere\u2019s a study that [showed] that night shift workers who exercised and had a healthy lifestyle generally reduced their chances of developing type 2 diabetes,\u201d says Foster \u2013 to only just above the average level of someone who doesn\u2019t work night shifts.<\/p>\n

One often-overlooked side-effect of night working is the impact on relationships and family life. In her survey into the effects of night shift working, Moore received reports of one parent finishing a shift and the other \u201cliterally handing over the child in a car park, on their way to work. That\u2019s obviously very difficult\u201d. Although shift working can reduce childcare costs, \u201cat the same time, it\u2019s having a big impact on the quality of relationships with children\u201d. And with partners \u2013 one study found divorce and separation was six times more likely for men working night shifts in the first five years of marriage. Education, says Foster, is really important, \u201cnot only for the employee, so they can make a decision about whether the extra money is worth the health risks, but also for the people they share their lives with.\u201d<\/p>\n

While on a night shift, naps can help \u2013 if you\u2019re able to take one \u2013 but timing is important. There are two processes driving sleep, says Foster \u2013 the circadian rhythm, and sleep pressure (the longer you\u2019ve been awake, the greater the need for sleep). \u201cA 20-minute nap will increase your performance and ability to function,\u201d says Foster. The problem is that if you\u2019re chronically tired \u2013 as many shift workers are \u2013 \u201cyou tend to drop very quickly into deep sleep, and waking from that can leave you groggy and actually be counterproductive. A 10-minute nap is perhaps all you go for.\u201d Having a nap too close to the end of your shift could hold off the sleep pressure, detrimentally, but by then for most people, says Foster, \u201cthe sleep pressure is probably so high that getting off to sleep won\u2019t be too much of an issue.\u201d It\u2019s probably safer, though, to take a short nap before work.<\/p>\n

Caffeine could also make getting to sleep at the end of your shift harder. \u201cThe general advice tends to be to use it little and often,\u201d says Lockley. By little, he means 0.3mg per kilo of body weight, so about 21mg an hour for a 70kg person. \u201cThat\u2019s half a can of Coke, half a weak tea or coffee. It\u2019s not very much, but that amount every hour, on average, is all the caffeine you need to stay alert, and minimise the effect on sleep.\u201d Ideally, he recommends people \u201cstop using caffeine about six hours before they plan to sleep\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sleeping pills are not advised, says Foster. \u201cThey sedate you, they don\u2019t provide a biological mimic for sleep.\u201d Many night shift workers become dependent on alcohol for the sedative effects, and the stimulant of cigarettes. Melatonin is sometimes prescribed for sleep problems and jet lag symptoms, but Foster says it\u2019s often misunderstood. \u201cIt is not a \u2018sleep hormone\u2019, it is a biological marker of the \u2018dark\u2019 and a very mild modulator of sleep. In the study showing the greatest efficacy, it reduced the time it took to get to sleep by 20 minutes, but that doesn\u2019t happen with everybody.\u201d Foster also points out that one recent study<\/a> suggested people with long-term use of melatonin were at higher risk of heart failure. \u201cThat\u2019s the first real evidence that melatonin is bad for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past, wearing dark glasses on the way home in daylight, was thought to aid subsequent sleep, but Lockley points out increasing sleepiness en route is dangerous (most accidents happen close to home). \u201cThat light is keeping you awake and keeping you alive,\u201d he says \u2013 whether you\u2019re driving, or crossing the road.<\/p>\n

Coming off a night shift, the usual sleep hygiene advice remains \u2013 create a calm and dark sleep environment, and have a wind-down period. Turn your phone off, and make sure friends and family know not to disturb you. Earplugs will probably help to block out the daytime noises. Don\u2019t be tempted to do a few jobs around the house when you get home. \u201cThe longer you wait after a night shift,\u201d says Lockley, \u201cthe harder it is to fall asleep, and the shorter you\u2019ll sleep.\u201d Of course, then it might be time to do it all over again. It\u2019s a small consolation, but with the days getting longer again, the life of night shift workers won\u2019t be led almost entirely in the dark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Approximately 8.7 million people in the UK work night shifts, but humans are not meant to be awake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":{"0":"post-386942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}