The graveyard shift. The domain of the night owls. Whichever way you put it, working at night has its peculiarities, especially regarding safety. There are services such as healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, heavy industry and security that are operational at night, which is why night shift workers are often referred to as the unsung heroes.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 15 million Americans have full-time night jobs, making them more vulnerable to work-related injuries. Furthermore, the National Safety Council states that 43% of American employees feel drowsy at work, which is much higher for night shift nurses. Problems such as fatigue, loss of alertness, and bad judgment worsen the situation. These all accompany living in the opposite cycle of what the body persuades one to do.
But don’t worry night owls! Taking certain precautions and taking care of oneself can help eliminate such risks to a greater extent and enable working at night with ease.
Here are five important safety measures to enable effective management of night shift work:
1. Prioritize Sleep & Manage Fatigue
One of the most important factors to consider staying safe working nights while performing duties is to control sleepiness and take adequate rest during sleeping hours. Here is how:
Establish a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Although work shifts are inverted, some norms should be adhered to, including sleep time. Even when not sure, waking up and going to bed at regular hours will be easy.
Ideal Sleeping Atmosphere
Equip your room with intense darkness, noise pollution, and a comfortable ambiance. Install dark-out curtains, and use earplugs or any white noise devices.
Limit Screen Time
Busy electronics contain blue light wavelengths that can harm your sleeping. Avoid using a cell phone, iPad, or laptop one hour before sleep.
Strategic Napping
If the company’s rules allow, try taking short naps during rest breaks to fight off sleep even more. Just a 20-minute nap is known to boost alertness significantly.
2. Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
One should appreciate that one’s general health status plays a major role in one’s ability to maintain safety while on the night shift. Here’s how:
Regular Exercise
Physical exercise fights fatigue improves sleep, and uplifts one’s mood. Most preferably, twenty to thirty minutes of moderate exercise daily or every other day.
Healthy Diet
Eat nutritious foods that can give the body energy for longer. Do not take sweet foods and caffeine as energy boosters because such snacks cause an energy slump and interfere with sleep.
Stay Hydrated
Heat is generally the greatest enemy when engaging in tiring activities such as working long hours. Water should be taken in adequate amounts each time one works, and healthy food should be taken instead of junk.
Regular Health Checkups
Regularly visit your physician’s office for checkups to keep you in good health and any issues that your work on the night shift would pose in the future.
3. Enhance Visibility and Awareness
When planning for the psychosocial period of localization, management of work fatigue is essential. However, situations, where lack of visibility has resulted in accidents are very crucial cum preventive in nature. Here are some of the ways:
Wear Bright, Reflective Clothing
Wearing bright-colored clothes, even without proper lighting, helps see one another and the surrounding dangers, if any.
Use Proper Lighting
Turn on lights in your work area, and if you need to travel to a dark space, always carry a torch.
Stay Alert
Always glance around you and look out for any possible threat, which could be an object or a person. An individual may also be fatigued; therefore, even their reflexes and alertness are greatly impaired. Hence, caution should be exercised.
Communication
It is very important to a fellow worker or a subordinate, but especially a manager, to explain why it is necessary to be concerned about communication in circumstances where there is a risk to people’s health or safety.
4. Practice Safe Lifting and Ergonomics
Often neglected and underestimated, maintaining proper postures and safe equipment lifting practices is instrumental in ensuring that night shift workers do not suffer from such bodily injuries in heavy industries. Here’s how:
Appropriate Lifting Methods
Be cautious when reaching out to heavy objects. Lower your heels and keep your torso upright. Avoid twisting or jerking. If the object is bulky, seek assistance rather than attempt it yourself.
Keep Your Posture Straight
Arrange your workstation to make it easy for you to work comfortably in the required position. Use an adjustable chair, place your soles on the ground, and try to maintain the natural arch of your back.
5. Stay Connected and Secure
This feeling of anxiety can often be heightened because there are certain hours when individuals normally work on their own; everyone else is absent. Therefore, always strive to be connected and safe. Here’s how:
Buddy System
If possible, refrain from accepting isolated positions in the proximity of others and always have a person with you during such activities, especially in unsafe environments.
Check-In Regularly
Implement a system whereby a participant assigns another to wait for him, who will check on him after some time about the progress made or activity performed or vice versa, especially where a person is far away or in a quiet place.
Conclusion
Although there are many difficulties linked to working the night shift, following these tips and, most importantly, keeping safety in mind can help minimize the chances of getting involved in any incidents within the workplace.
Remember, effective planning is the name of the game when successfully working the night shift.
Embedding those above, prioritizing sleep, increasing visibility, safe work practices, communication, and a healthy workforce helps ensure that one can successfully perform work without compromising one’s safety or that of others.
