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Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to a healthy shift. My name is Roger Sutherland, certified nutritionist, veteran law enforcement officer, and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades. Through this podcast, I aim to educate shift workers using evidence-based methods to not only survive the rigors of shift work, but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and well-being so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show. And welcome back to a Healthy Shift podcast. My name is Roger Sutherland. I am a shift work coach and night shift specialist. Today I'm actually talking to you, the leader, you, the HR specialist, you, the manager of a shift working environment. Or what I am doing is I'm also talking to you, the staff member, that can recommend this up the line for a very specific reason. I want you to have a listen to this one today and think. Just think about the benefits of this one. Today I want to talk about something that I believe is literally one of the missing pieces in shift work health and well-being. I've been thinking about this for quite some time. Now, as you know, I have been coaching shift workers now, hundreds of them, since 2019. It's now 2026, depending on when you're actually listening to this podcast. And over that journey, I've coached hundreds,

Welcome And The Missing Piece

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majority females, police and nurses have been majority of my clients. Police and nurses, all right? So the thing that I want to say about this is every single client that I have coached over the journey for the extended period of time, where are they now? They're all thriving in their shift working jobs. They are that person that you are looking at going, how on earth are they do this? How are they doing it so easily? Because there is a way. There is a way. And what happens is because I've coached them and they are a coach client, they are now in the workforce. They are now in your workplace, working with you in the truck or in the ambulance, or what you probably call that a truck anyway, but you they're with you all the time. And when you say, Oh, really struggling with this, they've got an answer for you and they are helping you. And that is what it is like to have a shift work champion inside the workplace. Not an outside consultant who comes in once a year and puts a poster on the lunch room wall. And, you know, it's a well-being email that no one actually reads or takes heed of at all. I'm talking about a real person on the floor, in the trucks, in the stations, on your ward, in your control room. People who are living the shifts alongside everybody else. People who understand exactly what it's like when it at 3 a.m. when fatigue hits hard, but they don't make sacrifices, they make good decisions because they've been coached that way and they know the benefits of it. These are people who know what it's like trying to recover after a run of nights while still being a parent or a partner or a functioning adult with life outside of their work. Have you noticed how much more time and energy they seem to have outside of work? These are people who can guide your staff, your employers, you in real time. Because here's the reality: like running seminars are great. And I absolutely love standing in front of people and having a chat with them and helping them around shift work. I've done these for years, and they do definitely help. But seminars alone are just not enough anymore. Because the real challenge with shift work isn't giving them information, it's actually implementation. People leave a seminar

What A Shift Work Champion Does

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and they're motivated, they do things. They learn about sleep and I teach them about fatigue and circadian rhythms and when to eat and how, what recovery, their caffeine timing, stress management, alcohol. I talk about all of that. But then what happens is you go back into workplace culture where everyone's exhausted, understaffed, burnt out, and they're just trying to survive the shift. And that toxic rot actually manifests and takes over with you. And that is why having shift work champions inside the workplace actually changes everything. Because these people are already embedded in your workforce. They're trusted, they're respected, and they're present when the support is actually needed. Not six months later at another seminar, like, hold on, there's a seminar coming. People crawl to it, they sit in there, they play on their phones, they yawn, they blink, they do whatever, got to go to the bathroom, they leave the room, they're motivated, and then they're back into that toxic um uh environment again. And I'm seeing this happen already with many of my previous clients that have telling me about it. People that I've coached one-to-one are now out in their workforces helping others. I talk to them all the time. They tell me you wouldn't believe it. I was talking to such and such the other day, and I've put them onto you and they're following you, they're doing what they're doing. That wouldn't have happened. That conversation wouldn't happen if they weren't a coach client. They're sharing strategies. What they're doing is they're actually helping people, they're educating because one of the biggest problems we have in the workplace today, particularly in night shift, is the lack of education. No one teaches you. So what they're doing is they're actually teaching their colleagues how to manage nights better. Now, this is not talking to Karen or talking to Jenny and asking them, how do you go about it? Oh, I do this or I do that, and you try that and it doesn't work, and then you try this. These are people who are absolutely thriving. And everyone wants to know why. Helping people fuel properly instead of smashing energy drinks and takeaway at two o'clock in the morning, helping others to understand why they feel terrible. Why do you feel terrible? Why do I feel like this? Why have I got gas and bloating? How come I'm missing my cycle? Why is my gut so disturbed? How come I've got diarrhea or I'm constipated or whatever? These people can answer these questions for you because we've covered all of this and gone through all of this in co in one-to-one coaching. And the powerful thing is this when some support comes from somebody living in the same conditions, doing the same job, your staff listen differently because it's completely relatable. It's practical, it's real to them. Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room. The cost of doing nothing. Because doing nothing is already costing you a fortune. Because every time your staff go without proper education and support, the business is actually paying for it. There's more unplanned leave, there's higher staff turnover, there's more fatigue-related accidents, you're getting more complaints because people are tired, lower morale, poorer decision making, reduced productivity, and then eventually your staff burn out. Then what happens? The staff who are still carrying the load, they get pushed harder and they lose their own recovery time and they become resentful and fatigue builds and stress builds, and then they either burn out, they disengage, or they leave too. And the cycle just keeps repeating. Yet many workplaces still say, This is just shift work. It's always been this way. Uh, we just make it work. But let's be honest, it ain't working anymore. The old approach was based on survival. The new approach needs to be based on sustainability because 24-7 industries are not slowing down, they are growing. Healthcare isn't slowing down, emergency services sure as hell aren't slowing down. Transport is increasing, it's not slowing down. Mining is not slowing down, manufacturing isn't slowing down. 24-7 services are ramping up. So if the work isn't stopping, then we need healthier and more sustainable systems supporting the people that are actually doing this. And this is

The Cost Of Letting Fatigue Slide

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why I have developed a shift work champion approach. As a night shift specialist, I can coach your staff individually. Pick six people that you highly respect that have got long term that deserve it. I'll coach them. I will coach them for six months, six, six, whatever, twelve weeks, three months, six months. Help them, support them, and then you can have them in your workplace. And they become a shift work champion. So instead of trying to fix an entire workforce through one off education sessions, what I do is I actually work directly with selected staff members of your choosing in private one-to-one coaching over 12 weeks. We go deep into sleep and when and how. Fatigue management, circadian health, nutrition, recovery, stress regulation, performance, balancing with the family, boundaries, mental health, and just the real-world implementation. Because if you pick half a dozen people, you're getting half a dozen people that are their lifestyle's completely different. Some will have children, some won't. Some will have partners, some won't. Some are single, some are married, some are divorced that have got sharing responsibility of kids on weekends and things. It doesn't stop there. It just becomes real. And you've got real people dealing with real situations that can educate the rest of your staff. They get education resources, they've got access to me. And then continued access to learning that they can bring back into the workplace. So now the workplace

The Coaching Model For Champions

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has people on the ground that are leading by example. They're not preaching, they're not policing, they're not leading. And sorry, not they are leading, but they're helping to create healthier habits and conversations from within the culture itself. They're Johnny on the spot, they're right there. Because culture changes fast, peer-to-peer. Instead of coming from top down, where you're telling people to do things, peer-to-peer always works better. And imagine the long-term impact of that. Because one champion can influence five, ten staff. And those five influence another five. And people start sleeping better and recovering better and managing fatigue better, having fewer errors. They're starting to feel more supported. They know how to go about it. They gain more confidence. They're having healthier conversations around shift work instead of just glorifying goddamn exhaustion and making mistakes. Now, this is how your workplace can change. Not through slogans, not through posters on the wall, but through people. And the workplaces that understand this early are going to be far ahead of everyone else over the next decade. Because healthy workers stay longer, they perform better, they think clearly and contribute more consistently. This isn't just a well-being conversation anymore. Well-being is done, right? What does well-being even mean today? It's a workforce sustainability conversation. It's retention, it's safety, it's leadership, it's changing culture. And honestly, I think businesses have a responsibility to start taking this a lot more seriously. They need to look at it. Because shift workers have spent decades being told to just deal with it. And they have. They've been doing what you want them to do. They've been doing it for a long time. And where's their support? They're not getting it. Now, meanwhile, the research around circadian disruption, fatigue, metabolic health, mental health, sleep deprivation, it gets stronger and stronger every

Culture Change Through Peer Support

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year. We now know a lot more. So we have to do better now. And the good news is we can. And the solution is not complicated. It starts with educating and supporting the right people inside the workplace. Creating your own leaders from within. And that makes you a leader. Creating healthier cultures from within, creating workplaces where people can actually sustain shift work long term without destroying their health in the process. They understand. So if you are someone listening to this and you are in leadership or management or safety or well-being, HR or operations inside a 24-7 workplace, here's the question that I want to ask you can you really afford to just keep doing what you're doing now and not do anything? Because the costs are already starting to show up in your bottom line and it's going to get worse. So if you want to explore how you can put shift work champions into your workplace, reach out. Let's have a conversation. Let's work out how we can do this for your specific workplace because this is what I do. And while I'm getting individuals coming to me that I'm coaching that by default become shift work champions, as managers and leaders, this is a great investment that you can make into your workplace by having shift work champions placed in your workplace. Like we end up having champions in the workplace for all kinds of different things. Why don't we have educated shift workers in the place on how to go about it to teach other people health and well-being? I'm going to leave you to have a think about that. Let's have a conversation. Let's talk about it. Let's make an appointment and talk. And I'll show you how we can go about doing this for your team. You don't need many because if you educate six and they're on different shifts or different crews, and they start educating others, and then they start educating others, it starts to spread out, and then you have more educated people. So while you're sitting there with your budget for next year and you're working out, now I can't spend that much money on a seminar or and what's a benefit? What about we just um hire hire me? I'll coach some of your shift workers, and what we will do is we'll educate them on how to

Next Steps For Leaders And HR

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go about it as a coach client, personally for them. It'll be personal to them. I will educate them how to go about it. You will get six decent employers out of that yourself, understanding how to go about doing shift work. And while they're driving around or in the workplace, they're going to be educating your staff for you. You don't have to do anything. I'll do it all. Think about it. It's pretty attractive. The future of 24-7 workplaces won't be built by people simply surviving shift work. It will be built by workplaces finally learning how to support the people who keep the world running. I want to thank you for listening today. And if you're a leader, HR, I want you to seriously consider what I've just said. And you can go through the link in the show notes and reach out to me and let's chat. And as always, look after yourself and look after each other. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshift.com. I'll catch you on the next one.