Shifts, Extended Work Hours, and Fatigue: An Assessment of Health and Personal Risks for Police Officers

The physical health, psychological well-being, safety and efficiency at work are important factors for any police agency to consider. When one considers the monetary and human costs of fatigued officers, it is essential to promote scientific awareness and subsequent plausible interventions. The rate of officers dying from health related problems and accidents for example have surpassed the rate of officers dying from homicide. Fatigued or tired police officers are also a danger to themselves as well as the public they serve. Little is known of the long term impact of shift work and extended work hours on police officers, and no direct scientifically rigorous exposure assessment of shift work has yet been done. The goal of this investigation was to examine police officer exposure to shift work and the association of such exposure with adverse health and psychological outcomes. This study examined two groups of police officers.

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Author: John M. Violanti, Ph.D.

Federal Sponsor Agency: Submitted to NIJ

Publication Date: 2012

Publication Type: PDF