[The chronobiology of work]

The arrival of the industrial age and the availability of artificial light, which lengthens the working day and makes night work possible, have created the problem of man's changing biological functions and rhythms. After a brief note on experimental chronobiology (which permits regulated manipulation of experimental environmental conditions and the study of responses), chronopathology is defined and its implications for man are considered. At present there is no legislation regulating shift work, but it is hoped that the law will take chronobiological methods into account. In this context the basic aspects of shift work are discussed and the two main types - semi-continuous and continuous - are analysed. Firms' experience of shift work is compared with reports in the literature. Present hygiene and environmental conditions, ergonomics and automation combine to make work less and less physically demanding and increase adaptability to shift work. It is therefore hoped that research chronobiology, psychology and psychosociology will provide increasingly precise information about ways of using shift work in the hope of constructing an ecology of the working man.