Lavoro notturno, salute e benessere: una nuova frontiera per l’ergonomia occupazionale

Today we live in a 24-hours society where night-work affects almost all areas of employment. Night-work, leading to subversion of physiological circadian rhythms and habits, may produce some impacts on the individual overall well-being. This causes a lowering of work performance, an increase in the risk of accidental events and, more generally, a perception of less satisfactory living conditions. In our experience we have interviewed, through a questionnaire, 359 workers in the metropolitan area of Florence. We found, in line with the Literature, that night-workers reported a less satisfactory quality of sleep and particularly an higher prevalence of road accidents. The frequency of disorders of various organs and systems is higher in these subjects, as well as the consumption of psychoactive substances (caffeine, nicotine).