Health surveillance for night work is applied to all workers who perform their duties at night for a minimum of 80 days, namely for at least 7 hours in a row (including breaks) of which at least 3 hours are between midnight and 05:00 am.
Let’s see in detail.
The health surveillance requirement for night work
Workers who perform night work are exposed to increased mental and physical fatigue, which is a health risk factor; therefore, the requirement for health surveillance becomes essential.
In fact, Legislative Decree 81/08 stipulates that workers who perform their duties during the time slot considered nighttime must undergo mandatory preventive, periodic and specific examinations by the company’s competent physician to verify their fitness for work.
In the event that an employee is found to be unfit for night duty, there is no dismissal: the employer must give him another job but one that is performed during the day.
The risks of night work
Risks that may be faced by the worker who performs night work include, for example:
– cause injury to both themselves and others;
– contract short-term occupational diseases such as fatigue, stress and short-term sleep disorders;
– contract long-term occupational diseases such as ulcer, hypertension, long-term sleep disorders.
Categories that cannot perform night work
There are some categories that despite enjoying good health cannot perform night work, such as:
– the person who has not attained the age of 18, thus the minor;
– the pregnant subject until the first year of the child’s life;
– the person who has children under the age of 3;
– the subject custodial parent who has children under the age of 12;
– the person with dependents belonging to the category specified by Law 104;
– the ineligible subjects.
Workers who are subject to some particular diseases, such as:
– alteration of the thyroid gland;
– psychiatric disorders;
– diabetes;
– cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases;
– epilepsy;
– neoplasms;
– pathologies of the neurological system.
It is also very important to assess the mental and physical status of workers over 50 years of age and to take into account whether workers suffer from alcoholism, menstrual cycle disorders or take psychotropic drugs.
Obligations of the employer
Prevention activities by employers are very important to protect the health of their employees.
In fact, it is the employer’s responsibility to identify the risk factors associated with night work and, once identified, to try to eliminate or at least reduce them.
The prevention and protection service must ensure support for workers if health problems arise related to night work by also ensuring safe conditions while performing the task.
Good organization of working hours is important so that no worker is overworked and so that workers do not have to endure consecutive night/daily shifts.
In addition, the employer must take care of training employees regarding work safety even at night, as this allows them to protect their lives.
