title: Effects on health and social well-being of on-call shifts. An epidemiologic in the French National Electricity and Gas Supply Company.
abstract: An investigation of the effects on health and social well-being of on-call shift work to cover emergencies outside working hours has been carried out by Electricité de France-Gaz de France, the French national company that supplies gas and electricity. This transversal survey compared a group of workers exposed to on-call shift work (n = 145) with a group that was not (n = 195). Each subject completed a questionnaire about the demands of his work, state of health, psychologic equilibrium using the Langner scale, and the impact of his job on social and family life. A "weekly report form," completed for 3 consecutive weeks randomly selected using a sampling plan covering the entire year to take into account seasonal variations, was subsequently filled in by 115 of the group exposed to on-call shift work and 167 of those who were not, to investigate events occurring outside working hours and sleep. The findings show that the main demands of being on-call were telephone calls, which were five times more numerous during the weeks on-call; this was accompanied by a shorter sleeping time (a mean of 6.8 hours versus 7.4 hours during a normal week) and more frequent tiredness on waking up (25.7% vs 13.2%). No particular disorder was found more frequently in the exposed group, but the psychologic equilibrium and family and social life of the workers in the on-call shift group were disturbed: some variables in the questionnaire and indices calculated from some items revealed adverse effects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Division Epidémiologie, Electricité de France-Gaz de France, Paris.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Imbernon
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Warret
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roitg
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Chastang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goldberg
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004560:Electricity; D004630:Emergencies; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012917:Social Adjustment; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology