Shift Hour Question

[silverstar808]

After reading a lot of posts in this forum, I learn that NLO/SRO work in shift hours. I am wondering how tiring it is to be working 12 straight hours a day? How do you deal with flipping morning and night shifts? Also, when someone works 4 shifts a week of 12 hours shift, i.e. 48 hours total a week, is this the normal working hours, or is the 8 hours what they call the "built in overtime" or what exactly is considered overtime?

Thanks in advance!

[Already Gone]

It's not exactly like you're chopping firewood for 12 straight hours.  But it is still physically demanding.  With the rotating from nights to days and back, there is a serious disruption in the sleep cycle that has to be managed.  Some people simply cannot manage it.  Others have no trouble at all.
The key to staying awake on a night shift is to stay active.  Keeping the heart rate up is necessary to avoid falling off at the controls.

Flipping is really not as bad as it may seem if your body and brain can tolerate it.  Being inside a windowless building actually helps, since you can't tell night from day by the sunlight level.  Night shift workers need to sleep during the day, so an environment free of light and noise is absolutely essential.  The longer "weekends" (which may happen at times other than Saturday and Sunday) are meant to facilitate the change.  If you don't treat them like mini-vacations, you can gradually adjust your sleep times.

As far as the OT question, it depends on the local contract and the schedule.  "Built-in-overtime" violates the labor laws for non-exempt employees.  You have to pay hourly workers for each hour, and you have to pay OT for all hours over 40 in a week.  Even for salaried employees, scheduled hours wouldn't be considered built-in.  But the rules for salaried people are different, and averaging is not necessarily a violation for them.  Since their overtime doesn't have to be paid at time-and-a-half, they can simply base their salary on 48 hours (or whatever the average is) as opposed to 40.

Still, you have to refer to the local contract to see what any given plant will do in this case.

[Fermi2]

I have never had an issue on either schedule and if you ask guys the best way to cope you'll get 4678765678976543 different answers. The best I can say is tons of overtime is a game for the young

In other words you'll figure out a way of coping that best suits your body, age, and psychology.

[Higgs]

I first worked at a plant that did 12s. I now work at a plant that does 8s. I MUCH prefer the 12s. Flipping between nights and days was easy for me, I'm not too keen on flipping between mids, days and afternoons. I also don't like working 7 days straight. A 12 hour shift can fly by depending on what is going on. Sometimes it drags too, though. The 7 day off every 5 weeks made for a nice recovery period.

12s is a much better rotation, IMO, and I'm hoping that one day my plant gets to go to that. But, there is enough older people that say they will quit if we do so who knows when that will be.

[Fermi2]

I agree. I much prefer 12s.

[HydroDave63]

I agree. I much prefer 12s.

5 crews where I'm at, 7-on 7-off 12s. Mega vacation, and once you are on the sleep pattern it is easy to hold it for 7 nights.

[jams723]

12s are the best as long as you get the time off. If manning is low then it is a challenge till it is recovered.

[silverstar808]

I first worked at a plant that did 12s. I now work at a plant that does 8s. I MUCH prefer the 12s. Flipping between nights and days was easy for me, I'm not too keen on flipping between mids, days and afternoons. I also don't like working 7 days straight. A 12 hour shift can fly by depending on what is going on. Sometimes it drags too, though. The 7 day off every 5 weeks made for a nice recovery period.

12s is a much better rotation, IMO, and I'm hoping that one day my plant gets to go to that. But, there is enough older people that say they will quit if we do so who knows when that will be.

Could you elaborate on what you mean by 7 days off every 5 weeks?
Normally for a shift of 12s, do we work for 1 day and off for another day, rinse repeat, or work for several days straight, then off for several days straight?

[Higgs]

No, here is an example of a 5 week 12 hour shift schedule;

http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,25964.0.html


That particular example the plant worked it so they had an 8 day break. My plant had a 7 day break.

[silverstar808]

Are there any known long term health related problems from messing up the circadian rhythm?

[BroadStreetBully]

Are there any known long term health related problems from messing up the circadian rhythm?

Google "shift work sleep disorder." In my experience, some people have a harder time with the hours than others, but for most people it is manageable. My girlfriend's father worked his entire career on shiftwork for PECO and he's still extremely active at 82 years old.

[Already Gone]

Insomnia
Hypersomnia
Dysthymia
Major Depressive Disorder
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Shift Work Sleep Disorder

[IPREGEN]

For some it ends in with a reductions of assets via divorce.
But that can happen on any job.

[cheme09]

Are there any known long term health related problems from messing up the circadian rhythm?

If you are worried about work hours in the commercial nuclear industry where there are established laws governing just how much any individual is allowed work in a certain timeframe, you may want to re-evaluate your desire to work for Uncle Sam.