Scientists say those who work shifts disrupt their body clocks and tend to be more tired at work, as a result they suffer increased errors.
Looking at how to combat this they compared the impact of taking caffeine (by drinking coffee or energy drinks) with placebos or naps.
Work-related tests showed those on the caffeine suffered significantly less mistakes and had better memory, attention, perception and reasoning.
In that case we dread to think how many mistakes we would make if we didn't have an intravenous drip of espresso hooked up next to the desk.
"It seems reasonable to assume that reduced errors are associated with fewer injuries, although we cannot quantify such a reduction." says lead researcher Katharine Ker of the London School of Tropical Medicine.