Talk:Shift work

message: The term "shift worker" recently came up in a discussion on facebook that referenced a medical journal that used the term.  The problem with the term "shift worker"--as it is defined by this Wikipedia article--is that the medical problems associated with "shift work" are not clarified as to whether they are in conflict with the worker himself, with the worker in relation to other workers or in relation to the perception/social constructs of that worker within the social construct.  I'm having a difficult time explaining myself here, so perhaps I could give reference to the online medical journal Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141021134825.htm  People who lovingly live a nocturnal lifestyle will take issue with some of Science Daily's claims... but possibly only because of how one defines "shift work".  In effect: is "shift work" work that goes counter to accepted one's biological clock, goes counter to society's imposed expectation of the biological clock, or that bounces from one time to another (shifting relative to others on the 24-hr scheme)? - scQue814   — Preceding undated comment added 11:08, 31 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: I have removed the following untill such time as a citation can be provided for this seemingly direct opinion:
I am John Frehse and am an expert in shift work and labor strategy.  It is a specific area of expertise, but I write for national magazines.  Please review the article It's Not About the Money on my website at http://www.corepractice.com.  It uses facts to prove substantiate my quote.  I apologize for my ignorance on Wikipedia protocal.  I am sure I made some mistakes.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.161.159.242 (talk) 05:09, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Citations

message: Hey guys, I've totally re-written the bit on different shift patterns.. as it seemed a bit lacking. I've put split shift, continental shift, 3 shift, 4 days on 4 off and all of the rest of the patterns I know are worked accross a few different countries. Enjoy :) 90.217.108.238 (talk) 11:15, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Shift patterns 

message: I simply do not have the time to add this to the article but there is another shift schedule, 7 days on 7 off . It also seems to me that there seems to me that there is increasing shift work offered in order to escape paying overtime rate to employees by using shift work and paying employees the regular hourly rate. -Nodekeeper (talk) 20:40, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: You bring up an interesting point with employers avoiding OT, I think working on shifts is more efficent and cost effective for both parties, less commute, less traffic on roads, less pollution and organizations running cost effective and efficent ops without (hopefully) over working shift staff. If we could verify (via cites) your point I think it should be included. —IncidentFlux [ TalkBack | Contributions ] 21:49, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Yet another shift schedule 

message: Schedules that maintain a fixed and constant staffing level throughout the calendar will have each portion of the day covered by the same number of shifts when the rotation is complete.  Or put another way, if you build a calendar that completes a cycle, each column will contain the same number of workdays for each work group.
Agree.  The individual shiftworker's work demand and that of the worker's crew is determined solely by the number of shiftworkers or crews assigned to a given task during a given period.  Interestingly, the relationship between number of crews and work demand is not a straight line function.  See the table and graph in "Fundamentals of Shiftwork Scheduling" by Miller under "People, Component 1, Number of Crews."  Millergonomics (talk) 14:18, 4 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: A general note about constant staffing level schedules

message: It seems the Five and Two schedule is in error, and that the 'swing' shift should be labeled 'nights'.  As I read the schedule there's a lack of coverage during the night shift on the first Monday & Tuesday, the second Friday, Saturday & Sunday and the last two days.  However, I'm not familiar with this shift.--Krausentube (talk) 14:24, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Five and Two

message: There seems to be a problem with the "two days, two nights, four off" section, specifically: 2 + 2 + 4 = an 8-day week.
'''
As you can see from the table, there is in fact an 8-day week represented -- Saturday is listed twice.
Am I missing something or does this section need to be modified?
Yvh11a (Talk • Contribs) 02:33, 4 May 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Recession Math, that or it moves your work week forward, through the calender week. 
Exit2DOS2000•T•C• 07:45, 4 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Two days, two nights, four off - possible error 

message: In the section "Shift work management practices" there was a sentence "After 18 hours of work, the typical person's reaction times are similar to people with 0.05 ppm of alcohol.[citation needed]". Besides that citation is indeed needed, 0.05 ppm of alcohol looks like a nonsense. 0.05 ppm = 0.00005 per mile.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.31.174.193 (talk) 17:26, 24 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  alcohol 

message: Used quite a bit by U.S. Air Force Security Service.  AKA the "every other weekend off" plan.  Twelve-hour shiftlength.  28 days of alternating work days and days off, then 28 days of alternating work nights and days off.  No more than three day shifts or night shifts in a row.  Described fully in the "Fundamentals of Shiftwork Scheduling" reference.  Millergonomics (talk) 14:19, 4 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Panama Shift? 

message: would it be appropriate to adopt a common nomenclature for the article, each of the shifts seem to have common elements described variously as work groups, shifts, etc.  Some of these can be confusing; is a "shift" a group of people who always work together "A Shift", is it a schedule that you work on "the night shift", a particular day of work "I picked up a shift", etc   words to consider defining, for the article:  shift, work group, platoon, rota, schedule, rotation, cycle, tour, trick, etc.--Krausentube (talk) 14:23, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: formatting and nomenclature

message: in an effort to avoid either working through the circadian low (0300-0600), or to avoid ending a long shift over the circadian low (24 hour shifts ending in the morning), does anyone have information regarding alternative shift times?  It seems that three-shift schedules that had the morning shift start at 0400 might be an improvement on others; similarly, 24 hour (with opportunistic sleep) shifts that started in the evening would avoid the potential of hitting 20 hours awake during the circadian low.  If anyone has a citation, I'd be glad to read it and add the material.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Krausentube (talk • contribs) 10:00, 15 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: alternative start times

message: As it is, our attempted list of every shift work pattern there is takes over the article. It might be best to create a separate article, move the list there, and draft an overview here and link to the separate page itself. Mxheil (talk) 20:09, 2 August 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed. I'd suggest providing two or three examples of shift work schemes and moving the rest to a separate article as you suggest. This article should serve as a proper overview of the concept of shift work, including why it's practiced, how it's scheduled, how it affects workers' health, and how it's regarded as a social and labor issue. Darmokandjalad (talk) 15:50, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Organization - maybe list all the various kinds of schedules in a separate article? 

message: This article cannot be called an information page. It is just a long, bias argument that shift work is unhealthy, and I can't help but notice the one shift that isn't generally considered unhealthy, the day shift, isn't detailed except in passing to support the other shift arguments that they are unhealthy.
We never actually learn about shift work beyond the first paragraph. Everything beyond the first paragraph changes the focus of this page from information to arguing the case that shift work is unhealthy. Perhaps some of the intro paragraph is also bias considering the rest of the article isn't information at all but just an argument over health.
Turning an information page into an argument is bias don't you agree? How can this article stand?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.87.132.67 (talk) 16:59, 18 September 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Nearly a decade later and this is still a massive issue. There's literally a Marx quote in the article. Dialmayo (talk) (Contribs) she/her 12:37, 30 May 2023 (UTC)

text: I came to this page to find out what it means to "work third shift" or to "work second shift." Specifically, what are the typical hours for each shift? Unfortunately, despite several paragraphs (of labor activism), I am still uniformed.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.28.242.132 (talk) 19:44, 11 October 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry that you couldn't find the information you were looking for about "third shift" and "second shift". That information is currently available in the "Three shifts" section on the separate Shift plan page. Regarding the question of the "bias" of the page, I think the page has evolved over time and various pages have split off from it. The emphasis on health effects (and therefore labour issues) is probably not so much a "bias" as simply a side effect of having lots of new and interesting research being done in that area in the past 5-10 years. New content has been added based on new research becoming available. But taking a quick scan now, I have to agree with the complaints here that the page doesn't do a good job any longer of introducing the idea of shift work. A careful, informed reorganization of the content, along with a better linking to the various related sub-topic pages would improve the page for everyone. Philip Kiff 21:16, 11 October 2020 (UTC)

text: I just tagged the article for NPOV issues. RuneMan3 (talk) 22:39, 21 June 2015 (UTC)
replies: text:  Note that we do have the article Shift work sleep disorder.  Now, there are negative health (and social) effects also for people whose problems may not qualify as disorders.  Still, I think that these two articles should be seen in connection with each other, for a better balance.  'Shift work' should primarily tell of the history of, the need for, and maybe some of the technicalities of shift work, with a shorter section on negative health effects.  Shift plan and perhaps Schedule (workplace) might be looked at in this connection?  --Hordaland (talk) 04:57, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  This article is an argument not an information page, how bias! 

message: This article should discuss:
:(1) advances in lighting technology (e.g., those currently under research in Japan)
:(2) research into extraterrestrial shift work
:(3) if possible, any known research into shift work performed by individuals with night-oriented circadian rhythms.   — C M B J   12:52, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
replies: text:  Interesting comment, CMBJ.  I wonder if I am understanding your point #3 correctly.  I have a circadian rhythm disorder, DSPD.  It affects many more functions than sleep phase.  I have always worked days, often sleeping 3-4 a.m. to 8 a.m. and again about 5-10 p.m.  I should be sleeping 3-4 a.m. to noon or one.  Since I learned what this is, that it's not just me, I've called myself a shift worker.  It has been detrimental to physical and mental health.  Is this what you mean by "individuals with night-oriented circadian rhythms"?  --Hordaland (talk) 22:47, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Absent details 

message: There is nothing wrong with shift work. All work is good for your health. Anyway, most jobs include shift work, not only 20%.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.146.72.61 (talk) 07:50, 26 September 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Workshy propaganda 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: I came looking to verify a claim that before WWII U.S. industry had unused capacity because factories weren't functioning more than twenty hours a day (two ten-hour shifts) and was astonished to find nothing useful; indeed the material here is dismally minimal.  The section should cover lengths of shifts historically, when three shifts a day was started and when it became the norm, legislation concerning work shifts, the influence of unions, and a lot more!  
Dismalscholar (talk) 00:05, 23 June 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: The majority of this article was written by one person who is more familiar with the current state of shift work rather than its history; such is the case for a large number of health and safety articles (in that they are written mostly by a single person). Would that there were more safety professionals with an interest in communication through Wikipedia. Maybe we can find someone interested from WikiProject Organized Labour? Reconrabbit 20:43, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  History section 

message: Why is the preview image of this article a picture of vomit? By this I mean the image when you hover over this article's link in another article. 2607:FB60:1011:2006:D41D:44C1:6459:C928 (talk) 06:22, 18 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Preview image for this article 

message: The redirect 2nd shift has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached.  Steel1943 (talk) 05:28, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  "[[:2nd shift]]" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]]