Too many working shifts, report says

Press, 10 April 1978, Page 8

Too many working shifts, report says

i NZPA-Reuter Geneva* * I Almost a third of workers; i in industrialised countries are on shifts despite health . dangers and strains to fam-; i ily life, the International, . Labour Organisation has i said. • Economic recession has i also curbed efforts to reduce! : night and week-end shifts,; : and a new 1.L.0. study gives : ways to reduce the effects of . irregular and inconvenient working hours, the 135-State {United 1 :tions specialised (agency says. Shift work introduced for; purely economic reasons! ; (should be restricted as much lias possible, the 1.L.0. study ; urges. Workers should be :|abTe to switch at will from ■ Inight shifts and week-ends’ Ito normal hours, and re-

'newed efforts should take place to improve working and living conditions for (Shift workers, it says. As an alternative to premiums for shift work, the (1.L.0. study suggests f ible 1 change-over times, shorter night shifts, a compressed work week, and reduction of working hours. j The 1.L.0. says 85 per cent of shift workers are ; traditionally found in steel, mining, textiles, and paper industries. “But more recently, shift work has spread to other ‘activities, such as offices, and food and service sectors,” it reported. 1.L.0. findings have shown that workers on 24-hour shift systems are ill more frequently than their colleagues working normal hours.