Shift Workers Are More Likely to Get Injured at Work

Your workplace is one of the most dangerous places to be. Not because of the office politics or the unsanitary kitchen fridge, but because of how likely you are to get injured.

According to the World Economic Forum, 2 million people die at work every year. In Ireland alone, 47 people died from workplace accidents in 2017.

New research has found that certain types of work are more detrimental than others.

Nighttime workers, shift workers and new recruits are at a higher risk of workplace injury, compared to staff not working these hours. That’s according to new ESRI and Health and Safety Authority (HSA) research which tracked experiences from 2001 to 2014.

Why are shift workers more likely to get injured?

Well, longer working weeks are often associated with injury. For example, construction sector workers working between 40 and 49 hours a week faced a greater likelihood of injury per hour worked, after adjusting for worker and job characteristics.

The rate of fatalities is highest in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector. While the sector that has the most days lost per worker due to work-related illness is health.

In this sector, 524 days were lost per 1,000 workers. This was followed by transport (507), agriculture, forestry and fishing (358), industry (351) and was lowest in construction (313).

Speaking about the findings, Pat Breen, TD and Minister of State with special responsibility for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection stated that, “This will enable businesses to improve health and safety standards in the workplace and to reduce staff absences which also ultimately affect the productivity and growth of a business.”

Hopefully, research like this will help us to make our workplaces safer in the future.

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Author Alice Murray

Alice Murray is a Content Creator at Jobbio with a passion for Employer Branding and Graduate Culture. She's a keen traveller and a self-proclaimed lazy runner.

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