Night Work and Cancer

New research points towards ‘night work’ having hazardous carcinogenic consequences. This article aims to determine whether you could be at risk.

Could I be at risk due to my work?

Around the globe, it is estimated that roughly 20% of all full-time employees are working in jobs that significantly disrupt their natural circadian rhythm (sleep-wake cycle). New research, done by the Independent Association for Research on Cancer (IARC), indicates that night shift work is likely to be related to the cause of some cancers, such as rectal, colon and breast cancer.

What is ‘Night Work’?

‘The Working Group’ has termed ‘night work’ as “any work that is allocated in hours which the normal person would be in bed.” Pilots who frequently embark on transmeridian travel are also amongst those at risk, due to the regular disruption of time zones involved in their profession.

Who has the hazard been classified by, and what does it mean?

The hazard is said, by the IARC on Identification of Carcinogenic Hazards to Humans, to be classified as ‘Group 2A’. The terminology used by the IARC to describe the correlation is ‘probable’ which, in a sense, means that the chances of night shift work increasing the hazard of cancer is likely.

The classification of ‘Group 2A’ is used specifically when the evidence using humans is insufficient, but the evidence using animals is sufficient.

What does the evidence suggest?

There is highly credible evidence that does suggest disruption of these sleep-wake cycles has a prolific effect on immunosuppression which reduces your body’s ability to fight off infections and extends to cancerous cells too.

Further to this, there are also strong links that point towards that disruption of circadian rhythms can increase cell proliferation (dividing of cells), which in turn can increase the hazard of cancer as cells only have the chance to mutate into potentially cancerous ones when they multiply.

This research, which feeds into the conclusive idea that night shifts probably cause risk to cancer, was carried out by 27 experts across 16 countries who eventually met in Lyon, France to summarise their findings.

Could I make a claim?

To make a claim of this nature you would need to have been employed in an environment which clearly disrupts circadian rhythms for a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately, the occasional night shift once every couple of months would not have a significant enough impact on your sleep-wake cycle for a claim to be made.

The people most affected include aeroplane pilots who cross time zones on a daily basis, not to mention the night time flights they often embark on. It is not limited to just pilots – the cabin crew are all at risk for similar reasons.

Employees whose day to day work does not require air travel such as factory, supermarket and hospital workers may all be entitled to claim as well. Of course, it would be near impossible to list all the professions which could claim and so instead, it is crucial to apply the definition of ‘night work’ given in the opening paragraphs of this article and apply it to your situation in a long-term context.

Should my employers have taken steps to minimize this risk?

Generally, the risks associated with night work are extremely difficult to minimize. For example, accidents have a higher frequency in night shifts than in day shifts and this is put down to the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

Now, even if you are someone who works permanent night shifts, your internal body clock can never fully adjust to this, as is it is simply against everything our body is designed to do naturally.

So whilst employers could combat fatigue in the workplace by fairly spreading night shifts among workers or ensuring correct equipment is provided for lifting and managing consumables in the workplace, they will never be able to minimize the symptoms of sleep deprivation or fatigue fully as it is something internal and not controlled by external variables.

Any other types of risks that are external could also apply to day shifts and so shouldn’t really be considered.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

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Article By Harry Arnison