Investigators: Paul Demers, Kristan Aronson, Desre Kramer, Manisha Pahwa, Priyanka Raj, Kris Moore, Anne Harris
Filed Under: Projects
Significance:
Night-time shiftwork has been classified as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’ by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and was identified as a research priority by Occupational Cancer Research Centre stakeholders. Approximately 18.5% of the working population in Canada, or nearly 2.8 million workers, work a regular evening shift, regular graveyard shift, or a rotating (both days and nights) shift. Understanding which industries employ shiftworkers and the types of shifts that they work helps us to design research studies, predict health impacts, and target prevention efforts.
Purpose:
Our goal is to raise awareness of shiftwork as a probable cancer risk factor, and identify practical interventions that can be used in workplaces to reduce the negative health effects of shiftwork.
Methods:
The Occupational Cancer Research Centre is undertaking a variety of activities related to shiftwork to assess knowledge and needs within the stakeholder community and create a venue for ongoing discussion and research.
The health effects of shiftwork
The first symposium, held in April 2010 in conjunction with the Institute for Work and Health, focused on the health effects of shiftwork. This meeting brought together the research, employer, labour, and workers’ compensation communities to discuss and evaluate the state of scientific evidence on shiftwork and human health. Presentations from international experts focused on the prevalence of shiftwork, biological mechanisms that may explain how shiftwork affects health, the results of animal studies, and the impact of shiftwork on worker injury, heart disease, fertility and cancer. All of the day’s presentations can be viewed here. The Occupational Cancer Research Centre has also prepared an Ontario Cancer Fact that summarizes the health effects of shiftwork and the major industries affected.
The classification of shiftwork as a carcinogen
The Occupational Cancer Research Centre will be holding a “Classification of Carcinogens” workshop in February 2012 that will outline the process that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) uses to evaluate carcinogenicity, using shiftwork as the example. This workshop will provide a background on the evidence of the health effects of shiftwork, including animal studies and epidemiologic studies, and show why shiftwork was classified as a ‘probable’ carcinogen.
Interventions to reduce the health effects of shiftwork
Recognizing the need to extend this evaluation to interventions that reduce the potential risks of injury and disease among shiftworkers, the Occupational Cancer Research Centre and the Institute for Work and Health are planning a symposium entitled “Interventions mediating health risks among shiftworkers: Current knowledge and workplace practices”, which will be held in the fall of 2012. In order to plan for this symposium, the OCRC and the Institute for Work and Health determined stakeholder needs and current knowledge via a web-based survey about workplace practices to prevent injury and illness due to shiftwork. The survey assessed knowledge of risk associated with shiftwork, identified types of interventions that have been proposed and/or implemented, determined who are the key players involved in shiftwork-related interventions, and collected information on what is needed to protect the health of shiftworkers. Survey respondents included workers, unions, employers, researchers, and policy-makers, among others. The survey results are now available.
Implications:
Altogether, these efforts will help us develop a comprehensive picture of current knowledge and workplace practices for the prevention of injury and disease related to shiftwork. We will raise awareness of both the health effects of shiftwork and practical interventions among the stakeholder community.
Current status:
- Our first symposium, “The Health Effects of Shiftwork,” was held in April 2010.
- An Ontario Cancer Fact outlining the health effects of shiftwork and the impact on Canadian industries was published.
- A survey to assess knowledge and needs related to shiftwork was completed by stakeholders across Ontario and Canada, and the results are now available.
- Our “Classification of Carcinogens” workshop, focusing on shiftwork, will be held in February 2012.
- Our third event, “Interventions mediating health risks among shiftworkers: Current knowledge and workplace practices,” will be held in spring 2012.
- We are investigating the link between shiftwork and cancer by using a database linking the 1991 Canadian census to the Canadian Cancer Registry.
Investigators:
Paul Demers (Occupational Cancer Research Centre and Cancer Care Ontario)
Cam Mustard (Institute for Work and Health)
Kristan Aronson (Queen’s University)
Desre Kramer (Occupational Cancer Research Centre)
Manisha Pahwa (Occupational Cancer Research Centre)
Priyanka Raj (Occupational Cancer Research Centre)
Kris Moore (Occupational Cancer Research Centre)
Anne Harris (Occupational Cancer Research Centre)
Karin Hohenadel (Occupational Cancer Research Centre and Public Health Ontario)
Marina Stegne (Occupational Cancer Research Centre)
