Abstract
Shiftwork causes disruption in circadian and social rhythms of the shift workers. Extended hours shifts and non-rotating (permanent) shifts are increasingly being adopted in police agencies across United States. The aim of this study was to evaluate alertness, sleep, and wellness of workers in permanent shift systems in a public safety department. A self-reported questionnaire survey was administered to 39 police and security officers working in 8 and 12 h permanent shifts. When compared with the 8 h shift, 12 h shift work was associated with a significantly lower alertness level (p = 0.076), lesser sleep duration (p = 0.023), more perceived sleep insufficiency (p = 0.088), more perceived negative effect of shift type on sleep (p = 0.037), and higher frequency of back or lower back pain (p = 0.005). The results of this study are potentially useful when designing interventions to improve shift work experience.
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Sengupta, A., Aydin, Z., Lieber, S. (2019). Differential Effects of 8 and 12 Hour Non-rotating Shifts on Alertness, Sleep and Health of Public Safety Workers. In: Bagnara, S., Tartaglia, R., Albolino, S., Alexander, T., Fujita, Y. (eds) Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018). IEA 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 819. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96089-0_56
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