What is Shift work?

Shift work is a dedicated set time for working, with the most common being First Shift (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm). But not everyone has that schedule of work. Some work in a rotation with a variety of different shift patterns. Industries such as Law Enforcement; Security; Transportation; Military; Healthcare; Carers; Hospitality and Petrol service station attendants, just to name a few, offer the following type of shift patterns

FIXED SHIFTS — specific days and hours each week
SPLIT SHIFTS — Two shifts of work split across (usually) the same day
ON-CALL SHIFT — remain available during scheduled on-call time, and able to go to a location within a certain timeframe
ROTATION SHIFT — staff work different shifts each week
DAY SHIFT — early morning until the afternoon, also known as First Shift or “earlies”
AFTERNOON SHIFT — afternoon to evening and known as second shift or “lates”
NIGHT SHIFT — an evening to morning and also known as the third shift or referred to as the GRAVEYARD SHIFT
WEEKEND SHIFT — working Friday nights and weekends

What are the negatives of Shift work?

Shift work can be hard on workers and needs to be planned and organised efficiently to prevent a negative impact on employees. It can increase:

Fatigue and fatigue-related accidents
Sickness
Absenteeism
Staff turnover

Shift work can decrease:

Productivity
Alertness
Performance

Shift work safety

Working shift patterns can really take a toll on workers, both mentally and physically. More accidents are reported on night shifts; after successive shifts and when shifts are long, especially when there are insufficient rest breaks taken. Shift work can be hard for most people, but especially for the young, inexperienced, and those with some health conditions as their minds and bodies have not settled into this “unusual” body clock pattern.

Shift patterns can often make sleeping afterward difficult, which can then lead to further fatigue, which further unbalances hormones and upset the body clock. All of which can contribute to other physical and mental health problems. Not only can this lead to safety issues after a shift, for example driving home, but also on the job itself.

Is it illegal to work alone on a night shift?

It’s a sign of the times that more industries are working around the clock to deliver a 24/7 service, making night shifts more frequent than maybe they used to be, in more sectors than ever before. It’s not just large factories with large workforces.

Is working alone at night illegal? No, it’s not. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that employees have safe conditions to work in, and working alone at night isn’t necessarily any different from during the day. An employer will need to ensure they know the safety laws that apply to all work-related activities and carry out a full risk assessment.

Put simply; understand the potential risks, and create a safe system of work.

How can working alone on a shift be made safer?

Lone working during any shift, but especially a night shift, can make workers feel vulnerable if there are insufficient procedures and safety measures put in place for protection and to ensure peace of mind. So, a suitable system should be considered and used to ensure that lone workers are monitored and able to check in at set intervals. If a check-in is missed, then a robust escalation procedure should come into play, that will ensure that other members of staff are immediately notified and follow up on the staff members’ safety.

MyTeamSafe®, an award-winning lone-worker App & proud supporter of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust