Jul 24, 2008

National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health to studyig stress on police officers

The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) is working to better understand:

  • What are the key stressors involved with police work?
  • How should NIOSH share our future results with law enforcement agencies throughout the country (e.g. workshops, print media, Web sites)?
  • What types of interventions would be feasible in the future to 1) decrease work-related stress and 2) improve cardiovascular health among police officers?
Part of this work is "measuring police officer fatigue and the impact of fatigue on officer health and performance. A unique feature of this study is the utilization of both objective sleep quality measures (obtained by the actigraph) and daily work history records which date back to 1960. These measures will allow researchers to assess the effects of shift work and extended work hours on officer stress and fatigue, and examine the effects of work-related stress and fatigue on cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk." according to an article on CCH Business & Corporate Compliance.


The research team is lead by Tara A. Hartley, M.P.A., M.P.H., Cecil M. Burchfiel, Ph.D., M.P.H. and John M. Violanti, Ph.D. Ms. Hartley is an Epidemiologist in the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch, and Dr. Burchfiel is the Project Officer and the Chief of the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Branch. They are located at the NIOSH Health Effects Laboratory Division, Morgantown, WV. Dr. Violanti is the Principal Investigator and is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.

The National Shiftwork Information Center applauds this effort to better understand and support the 850,000+ law enforcement professionals in this country.

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