ABSTRACT
Shiftwork is widespread in all industrialized and developing countries. It is a way of organizing working time that can be very disruptive to the lives of shiftworkers and their employers. Shiftwork often requires people to work regularly at night and this can result in direct disruption to the human biological clock, impairment to steep and mood, reduced alertness and increased fatigue, and interference to social and family life. There may also be consequences in terms of employee performance, safety, productivity, moonlighting, absence for sickness and turnover (Colquhoun et al. 1996). This article highlights the issue of shiftwork as a stress factor. To accomplish this, models of shiftwork stress are presented that indicate different perspectives to the application of this issue to working life and identify practical implications with respect to shiftworker’s lives.
