The main tasks associated with benzene exposure are fuelling vehicles and equipment with petrol, using petrol or other solvents to clean hands and using solvent-based paints. The industries with the highest exposure to at least one carcinogen are mining, electricity and gas, water and waste services, construction, transport, postal and warehousing, and primary industries (agriculture, forestry, fishing).

They also mention the difficulty of tying work exposure to actual cancer diagnoses:

Establishing the number of workplace injuries is relatively straightforward but investigation of work-related cancers is much more difficult because:

there is often a long latency period between work exposure and the onset of disease

it is difficult to attribute a particular cancer to a specific exposure

very few cancers are the result of a single occupational exposure (asbestosis in asbestos-exposed workers is an exception)

hazardous exposures often cluster in work environments

lifestyle factors (e.g. smoking) also contribute to cancer risk.

Therefore, understanding the prevalence, frequency and distribution of exposure to work-related carcinogens is crucial.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Literally the only place on the page that says "shift work" is in the list of carcinogens, but I found this page on worksafe:

2.0 What is shift work? Shift work is any type of work that requires a worker to be awake when they would normally be asleep.

In the long-term, shift work can increase the likelihood of:

gastrointestinal problems, such as peptic ulcers

sleep problems, such as insomnia

becoming obese

developing colorectal, lung and breast cancer

developing cardiovascular disease, including hypertension and coronary heart disease

developing type 2 diabetes

having a stroke

early death.