Am I keeping you awake?
A small minority of listeners report that they fall asleep to Morning Extra on a regular basis, though I like to think that's restricted to those of you who work nightshift and it's no reflection on the programme. Mind you, either way, it's nice to provide a service!
If you can stay awake long enough, that's what we'll be discussing on Monday's Morning Extra. In another of BBC Radio Scotland's Investigations, our reporter Ken MacDonald looks at how working nights can affect your health — and I want to hear your experiences.
My only experience of working overnights was in the late 1990s when I presented the weekend 'Scottish Night Network' programmes on Scotland's local commercial radio stations. Now, I'll grant you that playing records on the wireless isn't exactly hard work, but it can still get boring nonetheless and come 4am I used to find myself nodding off during longer tracks such as Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Blur's "Beetlebum" (there's a song you never hear anymore — I wonder why?!)
Thankfully, the silence after the song faded out was sufficient enough to startle me out of my nap, just in time to lunge foward and splutter some half-garbled rubbish into the microphone (alas, some things have never changed.) However, my successor — we'll call him 'John', for that was his name — wasn't so fortunate. On one occassion he never rose from his nap and listeners were treated to the sweet sound of prolonged silence. Apparently listening figures had never been so high. Alas, the poor boy never worked in radio again, although at least he was as fresh as a daisy when he eventually woke-up to receive his P45! (Readers will be reassured to learn that John now answers emergency 999 calls.)
But should we blame him? A recent BBC Horizon programme highlighted the dangers of playing with our bodyclocks. As well as the health hazards of working nights, experts also reckon that we're more likely to have a heart attack at 8 o'clock in the morning and most likely to crash our car on the motorway at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. (Luckily, the only thing John ever crashed was the intro to Kate Bush!)
I was also happy to hear one expert on the programme say that the reason teenagers won't get out of bed in the morning is nothing to do with laziness and everything to do with the unique nature of young people's bodyclocks. Some schools are even considering a change to the daily timetable to take account of this. So if my mum's reading this post, there you have it: I wasn't a layabout all those years after all! I'm now putting my faith in the scientists to come up with an equally convincing theory to explain my continuing inability to get out of bed at the age of 33. I'm optimistic.
Anyway, the programme's available to watch on the BBC iPlayer until 21 April. I highly recommend it.
But, back on topic: Is the 24-hour society destroying our health? Are employers failing in their duty of care for us? And is it naive to think we can change this? Post your experiences here and call me Monday morning from 8am. If you're awake, that is!
© MMX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~45~RS~)
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I have been working crazy shifts for 25 years now. Based on my experience, my advice would be:-
1) Avoid rota systems. If you must work nights, work constant nights.
2) Night-shift workers should be, a) young, b) unattached. (Unless your partner also works nights).
3) It takes a heavy toll. Don't do it beyond your 40th birthday. After all, you want to live a little before you die!
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Graham:
Is the 24-hour society destroying our health? Yes.....
Are employers failing in their duty of care for us? To a point yes, some employers are not doing their part to the duty of care of the staff!
And is it naive to think we can change this? No...
~Dennis Junior~
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morning graham,
every one of us has cancerous cells that sit within our body. the issues that arise are we don't yet know what triggers the onslaught of cancer, every single person reacts differently to different situations hence the fact that some people who smoke get cancer ,some don't & some people who have never smoked get cancer and most don't.
there is a lot we can all do to decrease the risk but as i say one size does not fit all
sid
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Morning Graham, I have worked in the aviation environment for over twenty years, I am now in my mid forties and I do feel the effect more and more as years go by.
Most Airports/Airline companies and handling companies have dodged legislation by adopting shift patterns that start in the middle of the night rather that a full night shift. Staff regularly start at 4 or 5 am, so when do these people sleep ?, can a grown adult really be expected to go to bed at 7 or 8 pm, whilst the rest of the family/population are up and around making noise, they then have to get up around 3 am in the morning in order to get to work, this must be the worst time for an adult to break sleep.
In all my time there has never been any health checks on staff, it is simply expected that if you are in the service industry you have to work these shifts,
Three of my colleagues have been diagnosed with cancer over the last decade after a life of shift work, I hope I can afford to move to day shifts before my own health suffers.
Paul.
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