Police in Chicago (Illinois, USA) are considering moving to 12-hour shifts and a 3-day work week. Among the benefits potential benefits cited are more time to decompress with family, and the fact that after a longer shift, off-duty officers are less likely to go out drinking after work.
The Fraternal Order of Police is advocating a schedule that involves 6 days on and 3 off with an 8-hour shift work schedule, but says it is open to the 12-hour shift proposal.
As we've noted in previous posts to this blog, many police departments are moving to 12-hour shifts, often at the behest of officers or their unions.
The Chicago Sun-Times has more information on this in their article 12-hour shifts, 3-day week for cops? New boss considers change that could cut down on drinking after work which appeared in the February 13, 2008 paper.
Other recent National Shiftwork Information Center posts on length of shifts for police departments:
* Police officers fight to keep 12-hour shift schedule
* Another police force embraces 12-hour shifts
* Police change to work 10-hour shift
Other police-related shiftwork posts can be found at: http://shiftworkinformation.blogspot.com/search/label/police
Showing posts with label 8-hour shifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 8-hour shifts. Show all posts
Jan 21, 2008
Funny shiftwork stories
One of the things that adds color to the life of a shiftworker, and to the shiftwork world in general, are the personal stories. I recently ran across a blog post in which a shiftworker on an -8-hour rotating shiftwork schedule dreamt he had hit his snooze alarm and then woken up at the time his shift started. He raced to his job and found that he was 8 hours early for his shift. I've heard this type of story many times.
Do you have any personal stories, funny or otherwise, that you'd like to share? I look forward to hearing from you.
Ed
Do you have any personal stories, funny or otherwise, that you'd like to share? I look forward to hearing from you.
Ed
Jan 20, 2008
Shiftwork schedule factors: work-rest ratios and predictability
As part of our continuing discussion of shiftwork scheduling factors, today we're talking about time on the job compared to time off. We'll also discuss the predictability of the schedule. A fixed or regularly rotating schedule may be daunting at times but an unpredictable schedule, such as those worked traditionally on the railroads takes an even greater toll.
The more a person works, the less time he or she will have for rest. People who work an 8-hour shift will have 16 hours left in a day to do everything else, and also to get some rest. People who work a 12-hour shift have only 12 hours to do everything else and to rest. In a situation like this, the extra work hours mean more tiredness and less time for rest.
This is a two-edged sword. For example, many times a worker's home responsibilities, such as taking care of children, cannot change from day to day. So, if workers do overtime or a 12-hour shift, they still must take care of home duties. Since these duties take the same amount of time every day, workers may sacrifice rest and sleep after a long workday.
This example shows us how important the length of shift can be in terms of stress and fatigue.
When looking at work versus rest, we also must consider how many breaks are taken during the shift and the length of breaks. Depending on the type of work and length of the day, several short breaks might be better than a few long breaks. Short breaks might be better particularly for jobs requiring heavy physical labor.
How tired a worker is also depends partly on how many days in a row he or she works. Fatigue builds up over several workdays, as well as over a single workday. This happens especially when a per-son gets less sleep between workdays than on rest days. As we mentioned earlier, a worker might not get enough sleep between long workdays because of home responsibilities. So, if a person works several days in a row, for example, six or seven, a good deal of sleep might be lost. Then the worker feels quite tired during the last one or two shifts.
How Regular or Predictable?
Most jobs have a very regular, set schedule. A worker usually knows the schedule ahead of time. Even if the shift times change, a worker will know several days before-hand. This makes it easy to schedule other non-work activities, such as making sure somebody is at home when the children get there. Other jobs are not so regular or predictable.
For example, health care workers might respond to emergencies that keep them on the job much longer than expected. Or, they might be on call for such emergencies. At a factory, a breakdown or a last-minute call for a product might keep workers at the plant working overtime. Railroad workers sometimes work off a “call board.” This means they can be assigned to a train at the last minute to move a “just-in-time” order of goods.
If workers cannot predict their schedules, it is difficult to get adequate rest. Maybe they just get to sleep when they are called back to work, or maybe they have just worked a long shift when an emergency happens. So, they stay at work a few more hours. Maybe they are on call and never get deep, satisfying sleep because they are always listening for the phone. Some people call this “sleeping with one eye open.”
The more a person works, the less time he or she will have for rest. People who work an 8-hour shift will have 16 hours left in a day to do everything else, and also to get some rest. People who work a 12-hour shift have only 12 hours to do everything else and to rest. In a situation like this, the extra work hours mean more tiredness and less time for rest.
This is a two-edged sword. For example, many times a worker's home responsibilities, such as taking care of children, cannot change from day to day. So, if workers do overtime or a 12-hour shift, they still must take care of home duties. Since these duties take the same amount of time every day, workers may sacrifice rest and sleep after a long workday.
This example shows us how important the length of shift can be in terms of stress and fatigue.
When looking at work versus rest, we also must consider how many breaks are taken during the shift and the length of breaks. Depending on the type of work and length of the day, several short breaks might be better than a few long breaks. Short breaks might be better particularly for jobs requiring heavy physical labor.
How tired a worker is also depends partly on how many days in a row he or she works. Fatigue builds up over several workdays, as well as over a single workday. This happens especially when a per-son gets less sleep between workdays than on rest days. As we mentioned earlier, a worker might not get enough sleep between long workdays because of home responsibilities. So, if a person works several days in a row, for example, six or seven, a good deal of sleep might be lost. Then the worker feels quite tired during the last one or two shifts.
How Regular or Predictable?
Most jobs have a very regular, set schedule. A worker usually knows the schedule ahead of time. Even if the shift times change, a worker will know several days before-hand. This makes it easy to schedule other non-work activities, such as making sure somebody is at home when the children get there. Other jobs are not so regular or predictable.
For example, health care workers might respond to emergencies that keep them on the job much longer than expected. Or, they might be on call for such emergencies. At a factory, a breakdown or a last-minute call for a product might keep workers at the plant working overtime. Railroad workers sometimes work off a “call board.” This means they can be assigned to a train at the last minute to move a “just-in-time” order of goods.
If workers cannot predict their schedules, it is difficult to get adequate rest. Maybe they just get to sleep when they are called back to work, or maybe they have just worked a long shift when an emergency happens. So, they stay at work a few more hours. Maybe they are on call and never get deep, satisfying sleep because they are always listening for the phone. Some people call this “sleeping with one eye open.”
Jan 19, 2008
Shiftwork schedule factors: speed and direction of rotation
Adapting to rotating shifts can be affected by the speed of rotation and the direction of rotation. Speed of rotation means the number of consecutive day, evening, or night shifts before a shift change occurs. Direction of rotation means the order of shift change:
- A forward rotation is in the clockwise direction, from day to evening to night shift.
- A backward rotation is in the counterclockwise direction, from day to night to evening shift.
Different rotation speeds also affect a worker's ability to get used to change of shift times. We have already talked about the same situation under permanent versus rotating shifts. Longer rotations (for example, three to four weeks of working the same hours) are sup-posed to allow workers more time to get used to night shifts.
However, workers usually return to a day schedule on their days off. A fast rotation (every two days, for example) allows no time to get used to night work. Some researchers prefer the fast rotation, because the worker quickly gets through the tough shifts and then has a couple of days off. Very fast rotations are used in Europe more than in America.
Direction of rotation can affect the ability of circadian (daily body) rhythms to adapt to the change in work times. Sleep, for example, is a circadian rhythm because each person sleeps for part of every day. Some researchers suggest that a forward, or clockwise, rotation is better for helping a worker adjust to new sleep times.
This suggestion was made because it is easier to go to bed later and wake up later than earlier. Our body rhythms make us feel more awake and alert in the early evening. This makes it harder to fall asleep earlier. Backward rotations work against the body rhythm by forcing the worker to go to sleep earlier and earlier.
Although we don't have hard and fast numbers, it seems that back-ward rotation schedules are used frequently in the United States. It is not completely clear why. It is partly because of custom (We always did it this way) and partly because workers like the “long change.”
In the long change, workers pick up an extra day off when going to evening shifts after night shifts. This happens because evening shift starts late in the day, which leaves most of that day free for non-work activities.
We'll continue this discussion of shiftwork schedule factors.
Other recent posts on shiftwork scheduling include:
Ed
Source: Plain Language About Shiftwork (NIOSH)
Jan 10, 2008
Another police force embraces 12-hour shifts
Yesterday I wrote about a police department in Illinois where officers were holding out on signing a new contract unless they can continue to work 12-hour shifts rather than reverting to an 8-hour shift schedule. Today I learned about the Nobelseville, Indiana police department which has just switched to a 12-hour shift schedule.
Capt. Brad Arnold of the Noblesville police believes the shift change will reduce sick time, allow officers to use vacation time more efficiently and eventually save the department money by alleviating "a lot of overtime." And how do the officers feel about this change? To quote one officer, Lt. Tony Craig, "It's a simple godsend."
Read the full story at Putting more police on roads
Officers now work 12-hour shifts, which can put 11 cops out on the road at one time.
Ed
Capt. Brad Arnold of the Noblesville police believes the shift change will reduce sick time, allow officers to use vacation time more efficiently and eventually save the department money by alleviating "a lot of overtime." And how do the officers feel about this change? To quote one officer, Lt. Tony Craig, "It's a simple godsend."
Read the full story at Putting more police on roads
Officers now work 12-hour shifts, which can put 11 cops out on the road at one time.
Ed
Jan 9, 2008
Police officers fight to keep 12-hour shift schedule
Police officers in Brookfield, Illinois, USA are fighting to keep the 12-hour shifts they have worked under since 2004. Prior to that time they worked an 8-hour shift schedule. Changing from 8-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts has been in vogue over the past decade or so. Initially many shiftworkers and unions opposed such a move but many have come to embrace it -- much to the surprise of many people not familiar with the shiftwork world.
Why? With a 12-hour shift schedule you get a lot more days off. And there can be many other advantages as well. In this case, police officers have refused to sign off on a new contract, which would increase their pay, until they get the shift length issue resolved. Foregoing increased pay ... I'd say they feel strongly about it. The police department is wanting to revert to an 8-hour shift schedule because the 12-hour shifts incur greater overtime charges. With appropriate training and proper implementation alertness and performance on 12-hour shifts can be maintained at safe levels without additional health risks.
I hope the dispute will be worked out soon, for everyone's sake. If all parties are flexible, there are ways to maintain cost neutrality when switching between 8-h0ur shifts and 12-hour shifts.
You'll find more details in "Cop contract will go to arbitration: Brookfield officers want to keep12-hour shift schedule" which appeared in the January 9, 2008 edition of the Riverside/Brookfield Landmark.
Why? With a 12-hour shift schedule you get a lot more days off. And there can be many other advantages as well. In this case, police officers have refused to sign off on a new contract, which would increase their pay, until they get the shift length issue resolved. Foregoing increased pay ... I'd say they feel strongly about it. The police department is wanting to revert to an 8-hour shift schedule because the 12-hour shifts incur greater overtime charges. With appropriate training and proper implementation alertness and performance on 12-hour shifts can be maintained at safe levels without additional health risks.
I hope the dispute will be worked out soon, for everyone's sake. If all parties are flexible, there are ways to maintain cost neutrality when switching between 8-h0ur shifts and 12-hour shifts.
You'll find more details in "Cop contract will go to arbitration: Brookfield officers want to keep12-hour shift schedule" which appeared in the January 9, 2008 edition of the Riverside/Brookfield Landmark.
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