Updated: 13-06-2025
14 Unbelievable Bad Effects of Working Night Shift on Health
Are you working night shifts? Are you aware of the effects of working the night shift on health?
This article will list the major effects of working the night shift on health.
Is the money you get or receive while working in night shifts worth the risks to your health?
Before you answer ponders the findings of experts.
Many of you might get surprised to learn the increasing evidence that night shifts are bad for your health.
People those who work in night shifts are suffering from cancer later.
According to research, it has been observed that there is a 36% higher risk of breast cancer for women who worked night shifts for over 30 years when compared to women who never worked night shifts.
Shift work has some peculiar demands that set it apart from jobs with customary working hours.”
Few individuals believe that night shift work has some advantages.
It could be convenient from the child care perspective; in some cases, it is better paid & permits workers time for other activities, like studying, etc.
Lakhs of employees are working night shifts in India; they are working mainly from 7 pm to 6 am.
Industries mainly in IT, BPO, telecom, healthcare, and transportation; supporting services areas are the major domains with a night shift workforce.
However, the facts stated by medical & scientific communities are repeatedly reporting that night shift work increases the risk of a few disorders & shows a negative impact on the overall well-being of employees or workers.
Night Shift Work In India
Working the night shift is most usually seen in industries that offer services round the clock, like food services, health services, transportation, and protective services like a police force.
Here we are going to have a glance at the effects of working the night shift on health.
Moreover, what reasons can probably be behind these findings, and what can individuals working shifts do to minimise the risks of various health disorders?
Employees clocking in for evening, overnight, or other non-regular shifts – what’s called night shift work – are at higher risk of health problems when compared to those who are working as daytime desk jockeys who cannot essentially face the same degree.
One of the essential physiological difficulties connected with shift work & night shift, in particular, is that the eating, working, and sleeping phases are modified.
We human beings have regular rhythmicity to various bodily functions & these circadian rhythms occur in humans, with various operating on a 25 hour cycle.
Those free running cycles that subsume body temperature, urinary excretion, respiratory rate, cell division, & hormone production, can be moderated by exogenous factors like social climate,light-dark cycle,& of course, work schedules.
14 Bad effects of working the night shift on health
The following are a few effects of working the night shift on health:
- It increases diabetes risk
- Shift work hurts sleep.
- It increases the chances of breast cancer risk
- Shift work increases obesity risk
- It increases heart attack risk
- Night Shift work increases the risk of workplace injury
- It baits negative metabolic changes
- It increases depression risk
- Drop in quality & quantity of sleep
- Depression, Anxiety, and increased neuroticism
- Widespread complaints of fatigue
- Growing evidence of adverse cardiovascular effects
- Possible surge in gastrointestinal disorders?
- Increased risk of unplanned abortion, prematurity & low birth weight
Summary of the safety effects of shift work
- An augmented rate of accidents, particularly at night
- Lesser performance, especially at night
Healthy Tips For Night Workers
- Most of the people working in shifts do so as it is an essential part of the job instead of out of personal preference.
- Experts offer numerous suggestions for individuals working rotating shifts to try:
- During the last few days of an evening shift, postpone going to bed & waking up by 1 or 2 hours. This must make it simpler to adapt to the new shift schedule.
- Permit extra time to adapt to the new work schedule, without minimising the time for sleeping.
- It is suggested to stay on the same sleep schedule every day of the week, even during days off, to assist in lining up the body with the work schedule.
- Dark glasses or special goggles help employees avoid daylight & other light cues after concluding a night shift. t
- A common message from experts is that receiving sufficient good-quality sleep minimises disruption to the body’s circadian rhythms and is the preeminent way for shift workers to remain healthy.
- Conversely, it could be problematic to reprogram the body’s instincts.
- Depending on the data that is presently available, it is also believed that restricting the years spent working at night is the finest option for employees to minimise the risk of chronic diseases.
These are the effects of working night shifts on health. So follow the points and keep your health safe.
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