Prevalence of night work in France: analysis based on an occupation-exposure matrix

A wide range of health effects, ranging from sleep disorders to cardiovascular disease and cancer, have been attributed to night work or other atypical work schedules. This article describes the prevalence of night work in France and its evolution between 1990 and 2013. Annual job-exposure matrices (JEMs) describing work schedules by occupation and industry in France were developed using data from INSEE’s Employment Surveys. The prevalence of night work was estimated by cross-referencing the JEMs for 1992, 1999, and 2012 with the population censuses of 1990, 1999, and 2013. The number of regular and occasional night workers in France rose from 3.3 million (15.0% of the labor force) in 1990 to 4.3 million (16.3%) in 2013. Regular night work showed the strongest increase during this period (from 800,000 to 1.9 million individuals). In 2013, regular night work was most common among nurses, midwives, and nursing assistants (n=274,435), security guards, military personnel, police officers, and firefighters (n=212,762), and truck drivers and delivery workers (n=139,363). These figures demonstrate the extent of night work and the significant increase in the number of regular night workers in recent years. The health impacts associated with these work schedules justify the implementation of a health monitoring system for the workers concerned.

Author(s): Cordina-Duverger Émilie, Houot Marie, Tvardik Nastassia, El Yamani Mounia, Pilorget Corinne, Guénel Pascal

Publishing year: 2019

Pages: 168-174

Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin, 2019, n° 8-9, p. 168-174

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