Watching over shift workers’ health

TIRED shift workers in vital but thankless industries could soon have a smart watch — like a Fitbit — that will help them stay awake when they need to and relax in their downtime.

A new study by industry research centre Alertness CRC used Actiwatches on doctors and nurses and found that light and activity could help predict body clock timing — when your body wants to be awake and when it wants to sleep.

Lead researcher Dr Julia Stone said the wearable technology could help synch our body clocks with challenging shift work hours, giving real time advice on when to get light, take a nap or have a coffee.

Dr Stone said we rely on shift workers in high-risk industries and should support them to work in a safe and productive way.

“The hope is by developing personalised interventions, they might start sleeping better, they might feel more alert … their digestion will be better, their mood will be better,” Dr Stone said.

Out-of-synch body clocks can have broader health impacts too — such as links with cancer, metabolic disease and mental health issues.

“It’s a lot like jet lag — some people can feel nauseous, tired, groggy or you can’t sleep when you are trying to.” Dr Stone said.

The watch collects information about sleep and light exposure and using a mathematical model, predicts a person’s body clock.

The study is the first to trial the non-invasive and cost effective model on shift workers.

Current approaches use lengthy and expensive methods, yielding out of date results.

While the technology needs to be refined, Dr Stone hopes the promising results have potential to change the lives of vulnerable workers.