Subjective and objective sleepiness among oil rig workers during three different shift schedules.

Objectives: Examine sleepiness in three different shift work schedules (within-subject design) in the offshore oil industry.

Methods: Sleepiness was measured in 19 oil rig workers, using subjective (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale; Accumulated Time with Sleepiness) and objective measures (reaction time). The work schedule consisted of two weeks of 12 h day work (day shifts), two weeks of 12 h night work (night shifts), and two weeks of swing shift work (one week of night work followed by one week of day work).

Adaptation and readaptation to different shift work schedules measured with sleep diary and actigraphy.

In this study we examine sleep during adaptation and readaptation to different shift work schedules in the offshore oil industry. The sleep of 19 offshore workers was assessed daily for 1 week before, during the work period, and for 1 week after 3 different work schedules: (1) day (14 consecutive days of work), (2) night (14 consecutive nights of work), and (3) swing shift work (first 7 nights with night work then 7 days of day work). The workers' sleep was assessed for 84 days.

Individual differences in tolerance to shift work--a systematic review.

Shift work tolerance is a term describing the ability to adapt to shift work without adverse consequences. In this paper we systematically review literature published investigating the relation between individual differences such as age, gender, personality, morningness/eveningness as well as biological variables and different measures of shift work tolerance from 1998 till 2009. A total of 60 articles were included in this review, of which ten studies were classified as longitudinal, while the rest were classified as cross-sectional.

Measures to counteract the negative effects of night work.

Objectives: Night work is associated with several negative health outcomes as well as accidents and reduced productivity. The aim of this study was to identify factors that may counteract the negative effects of night work.

Methods: We conducted searches for studies of scientifically based countermeasures of the negative effects of night work in PubMed and Thomson Reuters' ISI Web of Knowledge and inspected the reference lists of relevant literature.