In a modern society, night shift work is inevitable in many sectors including healthcare, industry and transport, and it is important to reduce the potential harm by preventing negative effects for health and safety from night shift work.

This presentation is part of the symposium ‘Night shift work research: what we need to know to make a difference?’. The aim of the symposium is to present evidence on night work and chronic disease risk and to identify and discuss how to move forward in etiological and prevention research to provide conclusive evidence for action.

Night shift work interventions can be defined as change strategies with the purpose to reduce health and safety risks associated with night shift work. They may be directed towards the organization or towards the individual and may address different possible mechanisms linking night shift work to health and safety risks.

An example of an intervention directed towards the organization is changes in scheduling of night shift work e.g. changes in number of consecutive night shifts; duration of shift intervals; or shift duration, which are all known to be associated with possible mechanisms linking night shift work to disease and accidents. Examples of interventions directed towards the individual are light interventions, which are related to experience of fatigue and diurnal disruption, and sleep hygiene interventions aimed at reducing the negative impact of night shift work on sleep duration and quality.

This presentation contributes to the following panel discussion on what do we need to know in order to implement such prevention measures by presenting relevant examples of possible interventions. Particular focus will be on what is known about success and barriers for implementation of interventions based on our own and others research.