Shift work 12 hours 24/7 365 days a year

Mjayed

Hi,

we are considering 2 days 2 nights and 4 days off rotation at work.

We are thinking this will benefit to our health in more ways than one..

We currently do 4days 4off then 4 nights 4 off...

2 people on shift at any time..

anyone know if there is any benefit to the 2 days 2 nights as you are not getting used to the days or nights and you have to get up early starting at 7am or obviously your body getting used to the nights doing 4 in a row..

as some weeks your body is so tired on say day 3 you really don't feel fresh for work.

any advantages to this?

Cheers!

miduck

I have done both patterns and preferred 4 on/ 4 off. With the 2/ 2/ 4 my body couldn't work out where it was!

Buellguy

Used to do 2 nights sleep day 2 days 3 off (start on nights on the 4th day) and it screws you up (12 hr shifts 06.30 to 06.30). We requested a move to 2 nights 2 days 4 off but weren't allowed (military setting in the UK - apparently someone had driven home off nights (4 hr journey) and crashed the car killing himself - many many moons ago) - duty of care and all that

FourNettFourForTwo

Hi Mjayed,
I worked 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off (12 hour shifts) for the last 12 years and never got used to it.
I struggled with getting a decent sleep. Ok for the dayshifts but couldn't sleep during the day (for nightshifts). Then on my first couple of days off I felt I was "jet lagged" and still in "night shift" mode.
I never got to choose but I think the 4 days, 4 nights option would have been slightly better.
At least after your dayshifts you will get a full set of 4 days off. Whereas your other option will mean your first day or two will be ruined.
In the end I had to come off shifts and get a days based job.

V_Chic_Chick

Having worked shifts before, I know that it's a complete pain to suddenly try and shift 'time-zones' - I fell asleep standing up once, and the overall feeling is one of severe jetlag.

I'd stick to the 4 days / 4 off / 4 nights / 4 off if I were you.

Mjayed

cheers guys,

I found this though and felt it sounds allot better for you as you don't get used to the days and then you don't get used to the nights and you can take say nap before your first night, then sleep as usual in day before second night.. then after your second night you either become hard core and stay up or have couple of hours nap and get up earlier to enjoy your day..

http://www.hseni.gov.uk/hsg256_managing_shift_work.pdf

Look at page 19 on fast rotation of shifts (Table 3) and Page 20 (Table 5) on the 12 hour night shifts.

Basically it says: Rotating shifts every 2-3 days is recommended, as the internal body clock does not adapt and sleep loss can be quickly recovered, reducing the risk of fatigue and ill health.

And Avoid shifts that are longer than 8 hours, where work is demanding, safety critical or monotonous and/or there is exposure to work-related physical or chemical hazards. Encourage and promote the benefit of frequent and regular breaks to reduce the risk of fatigue. Allow adequate recovery time between shifts and bear in mind that commuting times and availability of public transport may contribute to the fatigue related to long shifts. Limit 12-hour night shifts to 2-3 consecutive nights.

Notmyrealname

Mjayed wrote: »

Hi,

we are considering 2 days 2 nights and 4 days off rotation at work.

We are thinking this will benefit to our health in more ways than one..

We currently do 4days 4off then 4 nights 4 off...

2 people on shift at any time..

anyone know if there is any benefit to the 2 days 2 nights as you are not getting used to the days or nights and you have to get up early starting at 7am or obviously your body getting used to the nights doing 4 in a row..

as some weeks your body is so tired on say day 3 you really don't feel fresh for work.

any advantages to this?

Cheers!

DO NOT DO THIS. NOT EVER.

I did this as a truck driver working for agencies. I'd do Mon/Tue on days then Wed/Thu on nights and that continued for about a year. It completely shafted my body clock up and several years later, I've never recovered fully from it - my body clock is all over the shop. I felt like a zombie during the week and only marginally better over the weekend where I'd just about recover enough to start again on the Monday.

Its not a way to work, not a way to live.

Rotating shifts every 2-3 days is recommended, as the internal body clock does not adapt and sleep loss can be quickly recovered, reducing the risk of fatigue and ill health.

Absolute crap that has clearly never been done by the person writing it except for maybe a few weeks.

debrag

I usually do 2 days on then 1 sometimes 2. Work 13 shifts in total on a 4 week rota, do up to 6 nights, some times 1 after 2 days on. Never do more than 2 nights or 2 days together.

marisa

The pattern I do is quite complicated, and as sometimes I only get 2days to switch from night to day in general I am falling asleep at work and not eating properly. I never know when to sleep, when to eat, it is hell. Even when I do figure out when I am 'meant' to sleep my body does the opposite. I would much rather do a 4on 4off pattern but we do not have enough staff to do that so ours was born out of fitting working law into our SLA and staff available.

Below is mine, never agree to this if you can avoid it.

week 1 - 2x 12hour days, 2 days off, 3x 12hour days,
week 2 - 2 days off, 2x 12hour days, 3days off
week 3 - 2x 12hour nights, 2 days off, 3x 12hour nights,
week 4 - 2 days off, 2x 12hour nights, 3days off
week 5 - 5x 8hour days, 2 days off
week 6 - 5x 8hour nights, 2 days off

rinse and repeat

Notice how each week you jump from night to day. If people take holidays this rota jumps about a bit as well.

Felt so crap after starting this I have had to use some annual leave I had left to take 2weeks off!

So I would say if you are used to something, stay with it.
I would love to do 2weeks of nights 4 on 4 off, then back to days instead of this madness!

Kaz2904

I do mainly nights and have to do 5 or 6 per fortnight. My rotas kept being put as 1 night on it's own. After a few months of this I was ill. I never got a day off because my day off was always a sleep day so I was working 8 hours of it. For my health I find I am so much better off doing 5 or 6 12.5 hour night shifts in a row because then I have a week of days and a week of nights and actually get into a routine. Tellingly, I haven't been off sick in 15 months as my shift pattern suits me down to the ground!

skivenov

Proper continentals (12 hour shifts - 4 days, 4 off, 4 nights, 4 off) are the best shifts ever. I did them for a year and after that, anything seems like hell.

Never tried 2 on, 2 off, so can't comment there.

Got to admit Marisa - I don't think those shifts look bad. Week 2 and 4 are nice ones!