Make the Shift: Recent Episodes
Working Well in Wellington
Shift work can be tough on your mental health. But there are ways for shift workers, and their employers, to protect shift worker mental health and make shift work better for everyone.
Produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, Make the Shift has expert interviews, tips, and ideas that help you and your colleagues work better, beyond the nine-to-five.
Enjoy the full interview with Organisational Psychologist Rachael Palmer, where we discuss some of the considerations surrounding shift work and mental health.
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
Voiced by Chris Plumridge.
For more episodes, search for "Make the Shift" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
Enjoy the full interview with Dr. Jade Murray from Monash University, where we discuss the impact of shift work on sleep. You can hear Jade featured in Episode 3 of Make the Shift.
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
Voiced by Chris Plumridge.
For more episodes, search for "Make the Shift" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
Enjoy the full interview with Associate Professor Nicky Ridgers from Deakin University, where we discuss the impact of shift work on physical activity levels. You can hear Nicky featured in Episode 4 of Make the Shift.
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
Voiced by Chris Plumridge.
For more episodes, search for "Make the Shift" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
Enjoy the full interview with Associate Professor Maxine Bonham from Deakin University, where we discuss the impact of shift work on nutrition. You can hear Maxine featured in Episode 3 of Make the Shift.
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
Voiced by Chris Plumridge.
For more episodes, search for "Make the Shift" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
In this bonus episode of Make the Shift, we'll take a look at the Working Well in Wellington program. We'll chat to Helen and Linda about the program's purpose and origins, discuss some of the science behind the theory, and let you into the research process that ulitmately produced the Working Well in Wellington toolkit, and the Make the Shift podcast.
Experts featured in this episode:
- Helen McAdam, retired Social Worker and Working Well in Wellington program instigator
- Linda Hunt, Working Well in Wellington Project Manager
- Scott Rebecca, Manager: Health Services and Wellbeing at Saputo Dairy Australia
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
Voiced by Chris Plumridge.
For more episodes, search for "Make the Shift" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
Juggling family life and shift work can be hard. The odd hours, the uncertainty of shifts and rostering, scheduling around or missing important events, coupled with the demands of running a family life can make combining the two incredibly difficult. And what's worse, levels of tension between the demands of your family and those of your workplace is a big influence on your level of mental health at work...
In this episode, we look at the very nature of that juggling act that so many shift working parents perform every day. We speak to family members to understand how shift work affects them, and take a look at what shift working parents and employers can implement to prevent having to choose between job and family.
Experts featured in this episode:
- Helen McAdam, retired Social Worker and Working Well in Wellington program instigator
- Dr. Jade Murray, Monash University (sleep)
- Associate Professor Maxine Bonham, Deakin University (nutrition)
- Linda Hunt, Working Well in Wellington Project Manager
- Julie, Graduate Nurse at Central Gippsland Health
- Alyssa and Marley (Julie's daughters)
- Scott Rebecca, Manager: Health Services and Wellbeing at Saputo Dairy Australia
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
Voiced by Chris Plumridge.
For more episodes, search for "Make the Shift" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
FIFO (Fly-In, Fly-Out), and DIDO (Drive-In, Drive Out) work is quite well known in Australia, across industries that include mining, or more commonly in Wellington Shire, oil and gas. It's also developed a bit of a reputation for being pretty hard on your mental health. So is it really all bad? And is it true that some people just aren't 'cut out' for FIFO work? Maybe. But there's a lot more factors at play...
In this episode, we chat to FIFO workers and their family members about the effects of FIFO/DIDO work on mental health and family life. We also look at what employers can do to safeguard the mental health of their FIFO/DIDO workers, and help their workers enjoy the advantages of working FIFO, too.
Experts featured in this episode:
- Daniel, FIFO worker (mining)
- Danny, FIFO worker (oil and gas)
- FIFO worker family members: Jac and Milla
- Linda Hunt, Working Well in Wellington Project Manager and FIFO worker family member
- Dr. Jade Murray, Monash University (sleep expert)
- Helen McAdam, retired Social Worker and Working Well in Wellington program instigator
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
There are four protective factors that we can use to think about shift worker mental health: sleeping, eating, exercise, and socialise. We covered sleeping and eating last episode, and this episode covers the next two: exercising and socialising.
With a shift worker's concept of time often slightly skewed compared to your average nine-to-five worker, it can be hard to keep up with your sleep and your social life. We take a look at some of the forces that can cause a shift worker's good sleeping habits to go out the window, and some of the difficulties in maintaining a social life when it seems like you're on a completely different schedule to everyone else. You'll hear from our experts about some tips that employers and shift workers can use to get good sleep and maintain an active social life outside of work.
Experts featured in this episode:
- Helen McAdam, retired Social Worker and Working Well in Wellington program instigator (socialise)
- Associate Professor Nicky Ridgers, Deakin University (exercise)
- Linda Hunt, Working Well in Wellington Project Manager
- Julie, Graduate Nurse at Central Gippsland Health
- Scott Rebecca, Manager: Health Services and Wellbeing at Saputo Dairy Australia
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
Voiced by Chris Plumridge.
For more episodes, search for "Make the Shift" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
There are four protective factors that we can use to think about shift worker mental health: sleeping, eating, exercising, and socialising. This episode focusses on the first two, sleeping well and eating well.
We discuss how working shift is more than just 'sleeping during the day and working at night', and how you're constantly fighting your body clock throughout a shift. We learn about how your circadian rhythm (your sleep/wake cycle) works, how it's affected by shift work, and how that in turn affects everything in your body: your energy levels, your alertness, and even your nutrition. We then look at some ways shift workers can work with their bodies to make eating and sleeping around shift work that little bit easier.
Experts featured in this episode:
- Helen McAdam, retired Social Worker and Working Well in Wellington program instigator
- Dr. Jade Murray, Monash University (sleep)
- Associate Professor Maxine Bonham, Deakin University (nutrition)
- Linda Hunt, Working Well in Wellington Project Manager
- Julie, Graduate Nurse at Central Gippsland Health
- Scott Rebecca, Manager: Health Services and Wellbeing at Saputo Dairy Australia
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
Voiced by Chris Plumridge.
For more episodes, search for "Make the Shift" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
We learned last episode that, although there's plenty of things that shift workers can do to improve their mental health, the most important protective factors are actually the ones within the employer's control. So how do employers make their workplaces better for protecting shift worker mental health?
In this episode, we go over just what mental wellbeing actually is, and what an employer's obligations are (and aren't!) when thinking about the mental wellbeing of their shift workers. We'll look at what their legal responsibilities are for protecting mental injury, and where an employer might start in protecting the mental health of those people working shift, as well as how to combat pushback and make the changes stick.
Experts featured in this episode:
- Elizabeth Brooks, Principal Psychological Health and Safety Specialist at WorkSafe Victoria
- Julie, Graduate Nurse at Central Gippsland Health
- Scott Rebecca, Manager: Health Services and Wellbeing at Saputo Dairy Australia
- Rachael Palmer, Organisational Psychologist
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
Voiced by Chris Plumridge.
For more episodes, search for "Make the Shift" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
It's no secret that shift work can be tough on your mental health. But why is that? What's unique about shift work that makes it potentially dangerous for your mental health? And is it even possible to improve?
In this episode, we'll chat about the reasons why the Working Well in Wellington project was conceived, and what the project team learned about the unique demands of working shift. We'll discuss the impacts of shift work on shift workers, and the potential benefits that employers can enjoy when they look after their workers' mental health.
Experts featured in this episode:
- Helen McAdam, retired Social Worker and Working Well in Wellington program instigator
- Linda Hunt, Working Well in Wellington Project Manager
- Julie, Graduate Nurse at Central Gippsland Health
- Scott Rebecca, Manager: Health Services and Wellbeing at Saputo Dairy Australia
- Rachael Palmer, Organisational Psychologist
About Make the Shift:
Make the Shift is a podcast produced as part of the Working Well in Wellington Toolkit, a toolkit designed to help shift workers and their employers develop and implement ways to ensure their mental health. For more information about the project, and to download the toolkit, visit maketheshift.org.au.
To find out more about the development of the Working Well in Wellington project, take a listen to the bonus episode of this podcast: Behind Working Well in Wellington. You can also listen to the full interviews with our experts in your podcast feed.
This podcast, and the toolkit, was produced by Wellington Primary Care Partnership, and funded by WorkSafe's WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
This podcast was recorded and produced in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai and Bunurong peoples.
Audio production by Jet Streamer (jetstreamer.com.au).
Voiced by Chris Plumridge.
For more episodes, search for "Make the Shift" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.