• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• 제35권
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• pp.19.1-19.5
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• 2023

There are several types of shift work in Korea: rotating shift, 24-hour shift, day-night shift, fixed night work, and.so on. As a result of analyzing the 8th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 6th Korean Working Condition Survey, Korean shift workers accounted for 11.6%-13.9% of wage workers. Weekly working hours of shift workers were 57.69 ± 1.73 (24-hours shift) and 49.97 ± 0.67 (fixed night shift), which were significantly longer than day workers. To prevent health consequences of night work, many countries regulate the working hours of night work not to exceed 7-9 hours a day. However, Korea does not regulate working hours for night work, and some occupations may work more hours than the prescribed overtime hours. To prevent health consequences and reduce working hours for Korean night shift workers, it is necessary to regulate the working hours of night shift workers by law.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제6권3호
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• pp.240-248
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• 2015

Background: Recovery from fatigue is important in maintaining night workers' health. This study compared the course of self-reported recovery after 2-week 12-hour schedules consisting of either night shifts or swing shifts (i.e., 7 night shifts followed by 7 day shifts) to such schedules consisting of only day work. Methods: Sixty-one male offshore employees-20 night workers, 16 swing shift workers, and 25 day workers-rated six questions on fatigue (sleep quality, feeling rested, physical and mental fatigue, and energy levels; scale 1-11) for 14 days after an offshore tour. After the two night-work schedules, differences on the $1^{st}$ day (main effects) and differences during the follow-up (interaction effects) were compared to day work with generalized estimating equations analysis. Results: After adjustment for confounders, significant main effects were found for sleep quality for night workers (1.41, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.89) and swing shift workers (1.42, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.94) when compared to day workers; their interaction terms were not statistically significant. For the remaining fatigue outcomes, no statistically significant main or interaction effects were found. Conclusion: After 2-week 12-hour night and swing shifts, only the course for sleep quality differed from that of day work. Sleep quality was poorer for night and swing shift workers on the $1^{st}$ day off and remained poorer for the 14-day follow-up. This showed that while working at night had no effect on feeling rested, tiredness, and energy levels, it had a relatively long-lasting effect on sleep quality.

• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.133-139
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the influence of consecutive night-shift work and working time on insomnia among hospital nurses. Methods: A descriptive correlational research designutilizing secondary data analysis was adopted. Data on consecutive night-shift work, working time, and insomnia were collected from 64 hospital nurses using a Fitbit activity tracker and questionnaires, and analyzed using hierarchical logistic regression. Results: Consecutive night-shift work for more than three days had a significant influence on insomnia among hospital nurses. Weekly working hours also accounted significantly for the variance in insomnia, exceeding the influence of consecutive night-shift work. Conclusion: Development and implementation of proper schedules to control consecutive night-shift work and working time is important to alleviate insomnia among hospital nurses.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• 제35권
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• pp.52.1-52.13
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• 2023

Background: In 2019, the International Agency for Research on Cancer re-evaluated the carcinogenicity of night-shift work and reported that there is limited evidence that night-shift work is carcinogenic for the development of prostate cancer. Therefore, in 2020 and 2021, the Korean Epidemiologic Investigation Evaluation Committee concluded that 2 cases of prostate cancer were occupational diseases related to the night-shift work. Here, we report the 2 cases of prostate cancer in night-shift workers which were first concluded as occupational diseases by the Korean Epidemiologic Investigation Evaluation Committee. Case presentation: Patient A: A 61-year-old man worked as a city bus driver for approximately 17 years, from 2002 to 2019, and was exposed to night-shift work during this period. In March 2017, the patient was diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer through core-needle biopsy after experiencing stinging pain lasting for 2 months. Patient B: A 56-year-old man worked as an electrician and an automated equipment operator in a cement manufacturing plant for 35 years from 1976 to 2013 and was exposed to night-shift work during this period. In 2013, the patient was diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer through core needle biopsy at a university hospital because of dysuria that lasted for 6 months. Conclusions: The 2 workers were diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer after working night shifts for 17 and 35 years respectively. Additionally, previous studies have reported that high-grade prostate cancer has a stronger relationship with night-shift work than low or medium-grade prostate cancer. Therefore, the Korean Epidemiologic Investigation Evaluation Committee concluded that night-shift work in these 2 patients contributed to the development of their prostate cancer.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.13-26
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to investigate the present conditions of the night work and shift work systems in the heavy chemical industrial complexes found in Changwon, Masan, and Chinhae. Korea. We will attempt to define and classify their problems; and to discover further ways to improve their systems. Fifty production factories were carefully selected as the subjects for this study. The shift systems were classified into five categories. The consecutive night shifts were long in almost all cases with 6 days (36 factories) and 7 days (13 factories). It was found that the night work of about] 2 hours continues for a long period in the weekly rotation full-day shift systems and the night-including non-full-day shift systems, and there was no holiday during a shift cycle in the continuous full-day shift systems. The work time in most shift systems was longer than the 44-hours/week permitted by Korean law. Considering the characteristics of these various types of shift systems, the most essential thing to reduce the shift workers' work load may be to shorten their working hours and improve the schedule of shift systems. It is highly recommended as a fundamental solution. to reduce the portal-to-portal hours from 12 to 8 in the night-including non-full-day shift systems and the weekly rotation full-day shift systems, and at least to employ a 4-team 3-shift system in the continuous full-day shift systems. In addition to this, it should from now on be taken as a goal to restructure the types of shift systems by taking such measures as avoiding continuous night work if possible, providing sufficient off-duty intervals both before and after night shift, providing increased opportunities for workers to nap during night work. and increasing the number of holidays.

• 대한지역사회영양학회지
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• 제7권5호
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• pp.615-627
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to examine the eating habits and nutrient intake of industrial workers who work day and night shifts. In the area of percentage of skipped meals, the day shift workers responded that they usually skipped breakfast and the night shift workers often skipped lunch and dinner. The day shift workers answered that they skipped meals because of lack of time. The night shift workers cited poor appetite as their main reason for skipping meals. The intake of calories, Vitamin $B_2$ and calcium of the industrial workers who worked day and night shift was lower than the Korean RDA. The intake of iron of the male night shift workers was lower than the Korean RDA The intake of calories, protein, calcium, iron, Vitamin $B_2$and niacin, vitamin C of the female night shift workers was lower than the Korean RDA. In the area of nutrient intake, the night shift workers both male and female got lower scales than the day shift workers. The nutrient intake of the female night shift workers was the worst. Because they cook for themselves and live alone, their nutrient intake and eating habits were bad. The night shift workers were worse than the day shift workers and the female night shift workers were the worst. Considering the above results, night shift workers should correct their poor eating habits, their nutrient intake and have a well-balanced diet.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제28권4호
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• pp.331-345
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• 2018

Objective: Shift work including night work is known to be harmful to the health of nurses. This study was conducted in order to systematically review the academic literature on the health effects of working time patterns, including shift work or night work, among Korean nurses and propose a research direction for the future. Methods: We searched online academic databases to find relevant papers in domestic and international journals using the keyword terms 'shift work', 'night work', 'night shift', 'work shift', 'nurse', and 'Korea', and reviewed a total of 36 articles. Results: As a result of this literature review, more than half of the articles were found to investigate the health effects between shiftwork and non-shiftwork nurses. A few studies considered the shift type(n=6), frequency of night shift(n=4), and shiftwork duration(n=3) as working time patterns. These studies focused mainly on mental health(n=18) or sleep(n=15). Conclusions: Based on the review results obtained from this study, it is necessary to assess working time patterns of Korean nurses using a variety of variables including night-work-related factors, and various health outcomes should be examined considering the confounder.

• 임상간호연구
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.165-178
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• 2021

Purpose: To analyze nurses' shift work according to the government guidelines for night work and their perceptions of their work schedules. Methods: The study sample included 487 nurses who provided information on their schedules, including the normal working hours of each shift, and overtime per shift during September 2020. Nurses' perceptions were measured in terms of satisfaction, appropriateness for work-life balance, and fairness to their work schedule. Results: One-third of the respondents worked more than 40 hours per week. The average overtime hour was 1.14 hours per shift. Unsocial hours (8 pm to 6 am on weekdays, midnight to midnight on weekends and public holidays) accounted for 56.4% of all working hours. During their last night shift, on average, nurses worked 9.62 hours and had a break of 39 minutes, although 20.5% reported no break. Sixty-eight percent of nurses had at least one between-shift break shorter than 48 hours after a consecutive night shifts. Fifty-seven percent were satisfied with their schedule. One-third perceived their schedule as appropriate for work-life balance, and two-thirds perceived that days off on weekends and nights were fairly distributed within the unit. Working and overtime hours had an inverse relationship with all three aspects of nurses' perceptions. A higher proportion of unsocial hours and having no breaks during the night shift were associated with lower perceptions of fairness. Conclusion: Reducing working hours, ensuring breaks during night shifts, and increasing rewards for unsocial hours are required to improve nurses' perceptions and reduce turnover due to shift work.

• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.49-57
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the meaning of job experiences of fixed night shift nurses participating in a pilot project by a tertiary hospital, and to provide basic information for improving their night shift working environment. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted using individual interviews in September 2022. Three female nurses who worked fixed night shifts were recruited from a tertiary hospital. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Results: By analyzing the meaning of job experience as a fixed night shift nurse, four categories and nine subcategories were identified. The four categories of job experience of fixed night shift nurses were: expecting an improvement physical health due to predictable working hours, enjoying leisure time due to long off-duty hours, regretting for loosened relationships, and considering a successful settlement of fixed night shift nursing. Conclusion: As night shift work is essential for nurses to provide continuous nursing to patients, it is necessary to develop various strategies to improve the physical health of night shift nurses through fatigue management and good sleep quality, mental health through work-life harmony, and social health through intimate relationships between patients and coworkers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.254-259
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• 2019

Background: This cross-sectional study assessed the sleep quality using the ActiGraph and investigated the relationship between the parameters of sleep assessment and the type of shift work in Korean firefighters. Methods: The participants were 359 firefighters: 65 day workers (control group) and 294 shift workers (shift work group: 77 firefighters with 3-day shift, 72 firefighters with 6-day shift, 65 firefighters with 9-day shift, and 80 firefighters with 21-day shift). Sleep assessments were performed using the ActiGraph (wGT3X-BT) for 24 hours during day shift (control and shift work group) and night shift and rest day (shift work group). The participants recorded bed time and sleep hours during the measurement period. Results: Sleep efficiency, total sleep time, and percentage of wake after sleep onset during night work were lower in the shift work group than control group (p < 0.05). Sleep efficiency decreased in night shift and increased in rest day, whereas wake after sleep onset increased in night shift and decreased in rest day (p < 0.05). Among shift work groups, sleep efficiency of 6-day shift was higher in day shift, and sleep efficiency of 21-day shift was lower in night shift than other shift groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: We found that the sleep quality in night shift of the shift work group was poorer than the control group. As to the type of shift work, sleep quality was good in 6-day shift and poor in 21-day shift. Thus, fast rotating shift such as 6-day shift may be recommended to improve the sleep quality of the firefighters.