According to a new research, working in night shifts can increase the risk of breast cancer among women in the workforce.

A research commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to study the reported links between the working night shifts and breast cancer in women. The study aimed to find out if working at night has any impact in the level of risk of chronic disease.

The latest study by researchers in Denmark showed working in night shift increase the risk of breast cancer by 40 per cent. The researchers studied women who have served in the country's military. The result of the study would again spark a debate over the possible compensation for women working in night shifts.

The HSE has said that the risk has not been established yet and has asked the cancer epidemiology unit at Oxford University to study the impacts of lifestyle and working patterns on disruption in people's body clocks. The research is expected to be completed in by the end of 2015 and will include information from the Million Women Study.

The Million Women Study is a national study of over-50s funded by Cancer Research UK and the Medical Research Council as well as the HSE and Epic.

The study was published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine on Monday.