WHERE would we be without the people who work unsociable hours? The emergency service personnel who are on duty or standby whatever the hour, the security staff who protect our properties, the taxi drivers who make sure we can get home late on a Saturday night. The list could go on and on.

The community has always needed shift workers and it always will, but we should not take them for granted. The sacrifices they make to do their often essential jobs are difficult to quantify.

Delcina Bean-Burrows, of Health Tech Renaissance, set out to find out more about the effect of shift work on the people who do it. In a survey carried out last year, she questioned 50 shift workers in a study intended to be a prelude to a more in-depth study on the same topic this year.

She received richly varied responses.

"MISS important meetings, events, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc. Social life little and non-existent. Wanted large family, due to shift work. No time to take care of children. Loud machinery by day workers. Live next to warehouse, lots of heavy trucks. And on and on and on. Can't wait to retire. Tired."

That rather dismal summary was one of the responses to the Health Tech Renaissance survey last year, on the part of the questionnaire which requested an opinion on shift work from someone who had worked shifts for 30 years.

"When I read that I found it depressing," said Ms Bean-Burrows. That was among the most negative summaries in the whole survey, but it did reveal some of the difficulties faced by shift workers - the disruption of family life, the difficulty in sleeping during daylight hours and a confused body clock. We did not start out with any preconceived notions, we just wanted to find out about the challenges that people who do shift work experience," said Ms Bean-Burrows.

"We had an idea from things that had been published before that the divorce rate among people who work shifts is higher and that lifestyles of the shift worker population tend to be less healthy and there is also a higher incidence of behavioural problems among children in families where one or both parents do shift work. We wanted to take a look at how this affected Bermuda."

Ms Bean-Burrows set up Health Tech Renaissance two years ago and is an expert in occupational health. The 39-year-old businesswoman's work includes seminars and visiting companies to improve health-conscious practices. Included in her shift work survey were ten police officers, ten firefighters, ten Bermuda Electric Light Company workers, ten workers at the Grotto Bay Hotel, five health care workers and five public service (taxi and bus) drivers. There were 32 males and 18 females, ranging in age from 18 to 60 and with an average age of just under 40.

"Our shift workers are the backbone of society," said Ms Bean-Burrows. "If someone has broken into your house at 2 a.m., you know you can pick up the phone and a police officer will be there. But the implications of shift work can be far-reaching for individuals. We hope to find information that organisations can use to help to adapt these practices to help shift workers in the long run."

A DETAILED questionnaire focused on four categories: general health, lifestyle, societal sensitivity and personal adjustment to shift work. The main findings were:

l Most participants believed their general health had not suffered as a result of shift work, though they believed their working pattern had interfered their ability to get enough sleep, exercise and regular meals.

Forty per cent of participants did not believe that shift work was allocated fairly.

Three out of five said shift work had interfered with their ability to obtain higher level training for career advancement both within and outside of their present career.

There was a trend among single parents saying shift work was disruptive to family life.

One out of every five participants said they either lived with or helped to care for an ageing parent.

Ms Bean-Burrows said although the questioning and the number of participants in the survey had been somewhat limited, it had laid the foundations for the next, larger-scale survey. Health Tech Renaissance is hoping to be ready to go ahead with the survey by June of this year.

She put forward several conclusions from her survey:

Society needs to be more responsive to addressing the needs of shift workers in the public safety, health care, heavy trades and hospitality industries.

Support mechanisms need to be in place for shift workers and their families.

New methods for exploring professional development need to be explored.

Greater input from shift workers themselves must be encouraged, when it comes to deciding on the length and allocation of shift schedules.

Shift workers need to set goals with their families and employers as to how long they they intend to work on a shift schedule.

Sensitivity training for the community needs to be ongoing.

Ms Bean-Burrows said she couldn't change things herself, but she could provide the sort of information that would enable employers and shift workers to choose options to lead to beneficial change.

"We are past the stage when people said, 'Shift work is shift work', and just accepted it," said Ms Bean-Burrows. "We need to find the things that make a workforce happy and healthy, because a happy and healthy workforce will be more productive.

"If this survey helps to raise awareness, that will be a good thing. Society needs to be more sensitive about shift workers and not to take them for granted."

Some of the results were reflective of changes that had occurred in society, said Ms Bean-Burrows, particularly with the increasing numbers of elderly relatives that families were caring for and the abundance of single-parent families.

Ms Bean-Burrows said business was good for Health Tech Renaissance, after an initially suspicious reaction to the company from a few employers.

"First thing, some employers thought, 'What are we doing wrong?' And she's going to come in here and tell people they got repetitive strain syndrome because their terminal was set up wrongly," she said.

"But now business is going well and some companies, like HWP, are very proactive and embrace the idea of preventative health care. The Ministry of Works & Engineering is also embracing that idea."

She said the September 11 terrorist attacks had resulted in a fall in business in the autumn of 2001 as businesses looked to trim their training budgets, but only this had only been temporary.

"A short time after September 11, business started to pick up again, as there was a lot of stress in the workplace and people wanted job stress management seminars," she said.

Earlier this month, her company opened a new clinic, in Turkey Hill Road, St. George's, where people with occupational health problems can check in and see her for advice.

"I would like to see small clinics like this one set up all over the island - I think they have a role to play in lessening the public health care burden," said Ms Bean-Burrows.

"For example, if people can get education on how to deal with high blood pressure before they have a stroke, they are less likely to end up in hospital. If you lead a healthier life, then you reduce the costs associated with health care."

Health Tech Renaissance is backed up by an independent board of governors, consisting of honorary member and former Premier Pamela Gordon, medical adviser Fiona Ross, research oficers Barbara Holder and Patricia Fields and quality assurance representatives Diana Dill and Brenda Wilson.

Ms Bean-Burrows said it was her good friend Ms Gordon who had urged her to start the enterprise.

"Pam's involvement is entirely non-political," said Ms Bean-Burrows. "She encouraged me to set up my business at a very difficult time for me.

"My sister had just died from a brain tumour and I think that when you lose a loved one, you question everything. But Pam encouraged me and I decided to go for it."

l The Health Tech Renaissance clinic is open on Mondays (10 a.m.-4.15 p.m.), Tuesdays (10a.m.-12 noon), Wednesdays (10 a.m.-2.15 p.m.) and Fridays (9 a.m.-3 p.m.). Clients can make an appointment by calling 297-8327.

WHAT unnamed shift workers said about shift work:

"I feel that shift work is very hard, especially on single mothers. Sometimes I don't see my son at all during the week. When I get home he's asleep and when I leave in the morning, he's still asleep. On the weekends, I am off, but I am so tired I do not wish to do anything. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I've been doing shift work at least ten years. I just wish there was another way of doing shift work and spending more time with my son and my family."

***

"Shift work is an acquired taste. You cannot be trained for it and no amount of preparation or exercises readies your body for it. Single men/women with no children should be OK socially for shift work. But add a family to the equation and you understand why the divorce rate is so high among shift workers. Companies ignore studies and research regarding shift work, because the solutions entail spending money. There is also the view that paying someone the premium rate makes up for lost family time (holidays, special events). Shift workers use more vacation time to attend family events and not for the break from work that it was intended for. Burn-out is faster and they should be encouraged to retire earlier through retirement packages."

***

"I love shift work, because I am not a nine-to-five person. Shift work gives me ample time to do things with my family, but especially it gives me plenty of time to myself. I would not change it for the world. Ten more years and then it is off to the beach!"

***

"I enjoy the variety of shift and generally am able to cope. However, in my job, I disagree with the present shift. I believe with study and research an agreeable shift can be reached which allows both variety and benefits to life and health."

***

"I prefer working shift work, I am able to help my husband with his business, spend time with my family and have personal time. If I worked nine to five, I would only have lunch hours to do any personal business. With shift work, I have mornings or afternoons."

***

"Shift work creates a burden on family life. It is definitely for the single. Married people with a young family lose time with the children. Shift work not recommended in my view."