Nearly 70% of inspected employers lack night work safety measures

Employers do too little to protect staff who work at night, and many break the rules, according to an inspection by the Labour Inspectorate. It checked 92 employers in sectors with a lot of night work, including industry, transport, healthcare, hospitality and distribution.

Nearly two thirds of the inspected employers received fines or warnings for breaking the rules on healthy and safe working and on working hours. Nearly 70% had no concrete measures to prevent the risks, and workers did not always get enough information. Night work means more than one hour of work between 0:00 and 6:00.

More than half of the night workers interviewed said they sometimes or regularly feel tired or less alert at work. In 12% of cases this led to a safety risk at work, the inspectorate found.

For 46% of employers, economic reasons are the main motive for night work. Many employers saw no way to reduce it, the inspectorate said.

Jane Tijssen, programme manager at the inspectorate, said employers do not ask themselves enough whether night work is always necessary. The inspectorate says cutting night work is not only for individual employers: clients, business groups and unions and the government also have a role.