SOARING numbers of black and ethnic minority (BME) workers face significant health risks from night shifts, new research by the TUC warns today.

While number of white workers doing night work has fallen, the number of BME workers doing them has skyrocketed by 360,000 over the past decade — a rise of 71 per cent, its analysis showed.

By contrast, the number of white workers regularly doing night shifts has fallen by more than 570,000 — a 19 per cent reduction.