Meeting the Unique Needs of Off-Shift Workers Requires a Focus on Mental Health and Wellness
For site leadership, combatting burnout means meeting the unique needs of off-shift workers through programs and initiatives that support their whole health and wellness.
- By Nicole James
- Jan 24, 2024
Tradesmen working in high-risk environments are regularly exposing themselves to labor-intensive and dangerous tasks. Now add in doing this work at 3:00 a.m. when the rest of the world is asleep. That’s what off-shift workers experience every day on the job. Nontraditional shifts, including late night and early morning hours, can be isolating for workers, making them feel disconnected from the larger team that works traditional daytime hours. Combined with trade work that can be physically draining, it can lead to more frequent and more severe feelings of burnout.
Burnout isn’t just feeling tired or unmotivated at work. The World Health Organization defines burnout as the result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, causing feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job and reduced professional efficacy. For off-shift workers, feelings of burnout can be compounded by the innate challenges of working off hours including disrupted sleep schedules, feelings of exclusion and impacts on social life.
For site leadership, combatting burnout means meeting the unique needs of off-shift workers through programs and initiatives that support their whole health and wellness. This means prioritizing their mental health and well-being, fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment, and setting them up for success both at work and at home.
Three Steps to Combatting Burnout in Off-shift Workers
- Build a community and engage workers.
The most basic challenge of off-shift work is in the name. Workers are on the job site when few others are, likely including leadership. They’re off when most people in their lives are working, and it can lead to feelings of loneliness, isolation and disconnection from their communities, which plays an important role in workers’ happiness and, ultimately, their health. It’s important to close that gap by building a community and fostering inclusion through programs that bring
off-shift workers closer to each other and their regular-shift counterparts.
Forming committees or work groups can provide an outlet for off-shift workers to feel more involved and allow them to gather more regularly with people who are experiencing the same things as them. Off-shift workers often feel forgotten, but even small things like playing music on the site or providing engaging activities like games or challenges can bring off-shift workers together and show them that they are top of mind for leadership. When workers feel included
This article originally appeared in the June 2024 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.