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We’re very good at teaching people how to do their job. But are we teaching them how to manage their life around when we’re asking them to do that job?

In this episode, I explore what I believe is one of the biggest capability gaps inside 24/7 organisations: we give people a roster, train them in policies, procedures, systems and safety, and then largely leave them to work out the biological demands of shift work for themselves.

I spent more than 40 years working 24/7 shifts, and I know exactly what that can look like. You learn through trial and error, copy what the people around you are doing and gradually develop your own way of surviving nights. But with what we now understand about circadian biology, sleep, light exposure, caffeine, movement and nutrient timing, I believe we can do much better than simply expecting people to “work it out”.

I also discuss why having a fatigue management policy isn’t the same as teaching someone how to manage fatigue, and why generic health and wellbeing advice often fails to account for the realities of a shift-working life.

Most importantly, I look at what happens after that initial education. A great seminar can create awareness and start important conversations, but if we want that knowledge to remain within the organisation, we need to think beyond the room and begin building genuine internal shift work capability.

Because giving someone a roster tells them when to work. It doesn’t teach them how to shift work.

Learn more about Shift Work Champions™ and download the updated Executive Brief using the link below.

Support the show

----------------------------

Roger Sutherland is Australia's Night Shift & Sleep Specialist and the founder of A Healthy Shift.

After more than 40 years working rotating shifts with Victoria Police, Roger now helps organisations reduce fatigue risk, improve staff wellbeing and build healthier, safer and higher-performing 24/7 workplaces through evidence-based education, circadian biology and the Shift Work Champions™ Framework.

Shift Work Champions™: https://join.ahealthyshift.com/shift-work-capability

Website: https://ahealthyshift.com.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-sutherland

Instagram: @a_healthy_shift

___________________

Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.

_______________________

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This morning I joined Tony McManus on Australia Overnight for a conversation that went somewhere I think we need to go more often.

What is shift work like for the people waiting at home?

The conversation started with a powerful email from the wife of a retired police officer who had worked shifts for more than 42.5 years. She spoke about lying awake waiting to hear his car pull into the driveway, the impact his shifts had on their daughter, and how some of those effects have remained even after his retirement.

It really struck a chord with me.

For more than 40 years, I was the shift worker. But my family lived that roster too.

Tony and I talked about the impact shift work can have on partners and children, the anxiety of waiting for someone to get home safely, and the way working nights can disconnect you from normal family life.

We also heard from listeners across nursing, ambulance, policing and transport who shared their own experiences.

And that led us into a much bigger discussion.

We train people extensively to do their jobs. We teach them the equipment, policies, procedures and safety requirements.

Then we hand them a roster requiring them to work against their biology, often without properly teaching them how to manage it.

How to sleep. How to manage light. When to eat. How to move. How to manage fatigue. And how to build some sort of normal life around an abnormal working schedule.

After more than 40 years of frontline shift work, this is the gap I am now trying to change.

This was a great conversation about shift work, fatigue, family life and why we need to do much more to support the people who keep Australia running around the clock.

Support the show

----------------------------

Roger Sutherland is Australia's Night Shift & Sleep Specialist and the founder of A Healthy Shift.

After more than 40 years working rotating shifts with Victoria Police, Roger now helps organisations reduce fatigue risk, improve staff wellbeing and build healthier, safer and higher-performing 24/7 workplaces through evidence-based education, circadian biology and the Shift Work Champions™ Framework.

Shift Work Champions™: https://join.ahealthyshift.com/shift-work-capability

Website: https://ahealthyshift.com.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-sutherland

Instagram: @a_healthy_shift

___________________

Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.

_______________________

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What does it cost an organisation to educate its shift-working workforce?

That's an easy number to see. It appears on a proposal, gets allocated to a budget and requires someone to approve it.

But there's another number that's much harder to see: what does it cost NOT to educate your shift workers?

In this episode, I explore the hidden organisational cost of leaving employees to navigate the biological demands of shift work largely through trial and error.

From fatigue and presenteeism to unplanned absence, overtime, backfill, retention, operational performance and workforce risk, the cost doesn't necessarily disappear because an organisation chooses not to invest in education. It may simply show up somewhere else.

I also explain why workforce education should be the beginning rather than the end — and why A Healthy Shift developed the Shift Work Champions™ Enterprise Framework to help organisations build sustainable internal shift work capability.

Learn more about Shift Work Champions™ and download the updated Executive Brief using the link below.

Support the show

----------------------------

Roger Sutherland is Australia's Night Shift & Sleep Specialist and the founder of A Healthy Shift.

After more than 40 years working rotating shifts with Victoria Police, Roger now helps organisations reduce fatigue risk, improve staff wellbeing and build healthier, safer and higher-performing 24/7 workplaces through evidence-based education, circadian biology and the Shift Work Champions™ Framework.

Shift Work Champions™: https://join.ahealthyshift.com/shift-work-capability

Website: https://ahealthyshift.com.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-sutherland

Instagram: @a_healthy_shift

___________________

Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.

_______________________

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Can You Actually Adapt to Night Shift?

“I’ve been doing night shift for years. My body is used to it.”

But does feeling comfortable working nights mean your biology has actually adapted?

In this episode, I explore the important difference between becoming experienced at working night shift and true circadian adaptation. He explains why our internal body clock doesn’t automatically adjust to a roster, why daylight and days off can make complete adaptation difficult, and why even permanent night workers may still experience circadian disruption.

The goal isn’t to fear night shift or believe there’s nothing you can do. It’s to better understand your biology so you can make more informed decisions around sleep, light exposure, movement, nutrient timing and recovery.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Support the show

----------------------------

Roger Sutherland is Australia's Night Shift & Sleep Specialist and the founder of A Healthy Shift.

After more than 40 years working rotating shifts with Victoria Police, Roger now helps organisations reduce fatigue risk, improve staff wellbeing and build healthier, safer and higher-performing 24/7 workplaces through evidence-based education, circadian biology and the Shift Work Champions™ Framework.

Shift Work Champions™: https://join.ahealthyshift.com/shift-work-capability

Website: https://ahealthyshift.com.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-sutherland

Instagram: @a_healthy_shift

___________________

Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.

_______________________

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The First Day Off After Night Shift — What Should You Actually Do?

You’ve finished your final night shift and now you need to transition back to days. So, what’s the best way to approach that first day off?

In this episode, I explain why the sleep after your final night shift may need to serve a different purpose from the sleep between consecutive nights. He explores recovery sleep, daylight, movement and meal timing, and how each can help support the transition back towards a daytime routine.

Most importantly, this isn’t about following a perfect formula. It’s about understanding what you’re trying to achieve, prioritising safety and recovery, and finding a strategy that works with your roster and your life.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Support the show

----------------------------

Roger Sutherland is Australia's Night Shift & Sleep Specialist and the founder of A Healthy Shift.

After more than 40 years working rotating shifts with Victoria Police, Roger now helps organisations reduce fatigue risk, improve staff wellbeing and build healthier, safer and higher-performing 24/7 workplaces through evidence-based education, circadian biology and the Shift Work Champions™ Framework.

Shift Work Champions™: https://join.ahealthyshift.com/shift-work-capability

Website: https://ahealthyshift.com.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-sutherland

Instagram: @a_healthy_shift

___________________

Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.

_______________________

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Nobody Taught You How to Work Shifts — And That’s the Problem

Shift workers are trained to do their jobs, but how many are actually taught how to work shifts?

In this episode, I explore one of the biggest gaps in 24/7 workplaces: understanding the biological reality of working when the body expects to sleep and trying to recover when the rest of the world is awake.

Drawing on more than 40 years of frontline shift work, I discuss why generic health advice often fails shift workers, the importance of understanding sleep, daylight, movement and nutrient timing, and why different rosters require different strategies.

Because good shift work education shouldn’t just give people rules. It should help them understand why, so they can make better decisions around the roster and life they actually live.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Support the show

----------------------------

Roger Sutherland is Australia's Night Shift & Sleep Specialist and the founder of A Healthy Shift.

After more than 40 years working rotating shifts with Victoria Police, Roger now helps organisations reduce fatigue risk, improve staff wellbeing and build healthier, safer and higher-performing 24/7 workplaces through evidence-based education, circadian biology and the Shift Work Champions™ Framework.

Shift Work Champions™: https://join.ahealthyshift.com/shift-work-capability

Website: https://ahealthyshift.com.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-sutherland

Instagram: @a_healthy_shift

___________________

Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.

_______________________

Text me what you thought of the show 😊

Is night shift bad for your health?

The research linking night shift work with circadian disruption, poor sleep, metabolic dysfunction and increased long-term health risks gives us good reason to take the question seriously.

But there’s an important part of the night shift conversation that often gets missed.

In this episode of A Healthy Shift, I look at two issues every night shift worker should understand.

First, feeling good on permanent night shift does not necessarily mean your body has biologically adapted to working at night. Research examining permanent night workers found that complete adjustment of the circadian melatonin rhythm was rare. You can become very good at functioning on night shift without becoming fully circadianly aligned to it.

Second, what happens when we actually teach shift workers how to work with their biology?

Shift workers are trained extensively to do their jobs, but very few are properly taught how to manage sleep after night shift, light exposure, caffeine timing, meal timing, movement and recovery around a 24/7 roster.

That distinction matters.

Night shift creates a biological challenge. But that doesn't mean every additional behaviour that makes night shift harder is unavoidable.

In this episode, I discuss circadian misalignment and permanent night shift, why feeling adapted isn't necessarily biological adaptation, what night shift research can and cannot tell us, and how sleep, daylight, artificial light at night, caffeine, movement and nutrient timing can influence the experience of working nights.

Most importantly, this isn't about pretending we can make night shift biologically harmless.

It's about bridging the gap between circadian science and the reality of the person working at 3am.

Because millions of nurses, police officers, paramedics, emergency service workers, factory workers, miners, transport workers and other 24/7 employees can't simply stop working nights.

They deserve more than being told, “Night shift is bad for you.”

They deserve to be taught how to do it better.

Support the show

----------------------------

Roger Sutherland is Australia's Night Shift & Sleep Specialist and the founder of A Healthy Shift.

After more than 40 years working rotating shifts with Victoria Police, Roger now helps organisations reduce fatigue risk, improve staff wellbeing and build healthier, safer and higher-performing 24/7 workplaces through evidence-based education, circadian biology and the Shift Work Champions™ Framework.

Shift Work Champions™: https://join.ahealthyshift.com/shift-work-capability

Website: https://ahealthyshift.com.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-sutherland

Instagram: @a_healthy_shift

___________________

Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.

_______________________