Research project What combinations of shift work characteristics are the worst and what are the most attractive?
Shift work, especially with night work, has a number of negative health effects. Several attempts have been made to create ergonomic recommendations on which factors constitute a good shift schedule, but the arguments are rather weak and based on individual studies at specific companies, with a certain schedule type (eg 3-shift) and without clear criteria.
An interesting aspect of research on "good" and "bad" schedules is that the individual has not been asked whether the schedule is a problem, or how "good" or "bad" the shift schedule is considered to be. This is reasonably decisive for whether one will apply for another job or not and reasonably represents the attraction value of the schedule.
The purpose of the present project is to investigate:
- How common are stressful schedule characteristics within the traditional shift work types (eg three shifts, two shifts, permanent night work, shift time, etc)?
- How are the traditional types of shift work linked to sleep problems, fatigue problems, health problems and family time problems? Are certain types of shift schedules more attractive to employees who work shifts?
- What does the pattern of stressful schedule characteristics look like for workers and white-collar workers, respectively women and men?
- Do psychosocial work stress / physical workload affect the effects of negative schedule load?
Project members
Project managers
Lars Göran Kecklund
Professor, Deputy Head of Department
Members
Mikael Sallinen
Professor
Torbjörn Åkerstedt
Professor Emeritus