Effects of ergonomic shift scheduling and COVID-19 pandemic on working hours and health in the social and health care sector
Objectives
The goal of the project is to investigate the use and effects of the shift scheduling software including the FIOH Working Time Traffic Light Recommendations as well as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the renewed Working Time Act on the changes of working hours, health, and safety. The outcomes include information of daily sickness absence and occupational injuries, and the perceived health and safety based on the biannual Finnish Public Sector (FPS) surveys.
We will provide feedback to the participating organizations and policy makers on the annual trends in working hours in relation to the effects of the Finnish Working Time Act, COVID-19 pandemic, shift work, age, and sex. We will update the FIOH Working Time Traffic Light Recommendations for further use by working places and digitalized work scheduling applications linked to FIOH recommendations. The project also produces an algorithm-based internet application for assessing the accident risk related to the shift schedule.
Data and methods
The research project utilizes working time data from the social and health care sector including daily working time and sickness absence data, as well as occupational injury data linked at individual level from altogether 17 hospital districts and cities between 2008-2022. The working time and sickness absence data is linked to the FPS study which covers approximately 220 000 employees and over 200 million workdays.
Our experts
Mikko Härmä
Research group
Jenni Ervasti
Olli Haavisto
Kati Karhula
Mika Kivimäki
Aki Koskinen
Mikael Sallinen
Jarno Turunen
Annina Ropponen
Funding
Finnish Work Environment Fund, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, CGI Finland Ltd, the participating hospital districts and cities
See also
Working time in the social affairs and health care sector
FIOH Working Time Traffic Light Recommendations (Link under construction)
Publications
Härmä M, Shiri R, Ervasti J, Karhula K, Turunen J, Koskinen A, Ropponen A, Sallinen M. National recommendations for shift scheduling in healthcare: A 5-year prospective cohort study on working hour characteristics. Int J Nurs Stud,2022; 134, 104321. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2022.104321
Shiri R, Turunen J, Karhula K, Koskinen A, Sallinen M, Ropponen A, Ervasti J, Härmä M. The association between the use of shift schedule evaluation tool with ergonomics recommendations and occupational injuries: A 4-year prospective cohort study among healthcare workers. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2022; Nov 8;4068. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.4068
Turunen J, Karhula K, Ropponen A, Koskinen A, Shiri R, Sallinen M, Ervasti J, Pehkonen J, Härmä M. The Time-Varying Effect of Participatory Shift Scheduling on Working Hour Characteristics and Sickness Absence: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment in Hospitals. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2022; 19(22), 14654. doi:10.3390/ijerph192214654.
