The study will utilize data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to analyze the impact of demanding work schedules on employee safety and health. The NLSY contains extensive information about worker's employment history, job experiences, occupational injuries and illnesses, along with a variety of social, economic, vocational, and disability outcomes. Using these data, we will be able to categorize work schedules according to the type of shift work performed (day, evening, night, split, rotating), overtime work, extended hours per week (60+), and extended hours per day (12+). The longitudinal nature of the NLSY will allow us to retrospectively track individuals' work experiences over a 13-year observation period (1987-2000). Our analysis will answer the following questions: a) Does shift work and irregular schedules increase the likelihood of suffering occupational injuries and illnesses? b) Does overtime and extended work hours increase the likelihood of suffering occupational injuries and illnesses? c) What specific types of shift work, overtime, and extended hours schedules are most hazardous? and d) Does working on one of these """"""""demanding work schedules"""""""" increase the severity of the social, economic, vocational, and disability consequences of occupational injuries and illnesses? Our study has several important design features that will significantly advance scientific understanding in this important area of research, including large sample sizes, a wide range of industries covered, a relatively long period of observation to examine the time dependencies between events, the ability to control for important covariates, and an extremely large array of significant outcome measures. To conduct this study we have assembled a highly qualified research team with experts in work organization and the analysis of large databases from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the RAND Institute, and Applied Epidemiology, Inc. Our study will result in policy-relevant publications and reports that will include research-based recommendations for practical interventions to prevent or minimize risk from these exposures.
