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Jerry Bruette
02-20-2015, 10:43 AM
Does anyone here work what's referred to as a DuPont 12 hour rotating shift?

I used t work a rotating shift that was 7 on 2 off, 7 on 2 off, 7 on 3 off. And the shifts were 8 hours each.

I have an opportunity for a very substantial pay raise but it involves the 12 hour rotating shift and I have no experience with it.

Looking for opinions, how's it affect your home life, stuff like that.

Steve Peterson
02-20-2015, 12:04 PM
What are the details of the 12 hour rotating shift? 12 hour shifts with 3 on, 4 off, 4 on, 3 off? That sounds pretty decent if it is day shift. Graveyard shifts are difficult if you have a family.

Steve

Matt Marsh
02-20-2015, 12:35 PM
Jerry, I've worked them all. No rotating shift is easy, but some are better than others. The 8 hour rotation is usually referred to as "Southern Swing", and it is the hardest of them all. I worked another modified schedule that I liked best, which was a combination of both 8 hour and 12 hour shifts. While working that shift, we did a 12 month trial of the 12 hour rotation that you describe. At the end of that trial period, the workers voted to go back to the modified schedule. I don't like working all 12 hour shifts, because on the days worked, that is all you will have time for. Maintenance tasks get piled up for the days off, and it's a real drag trying to be involved with family and friends on those days. I liked the modified rotation. You only worked two weekends a month, and Saturdays and Sundays worked were always 12 hour shifts. Any shift worked on a week day was 8 hours. 3pm to 11pm shift was always Monday through Friday, so if you took those 5 days as a vacation, you actually had 13 days off in a row, and only had to use 5 days of vacation.

Jerry Bruette
02-20-2015, 12:40 PM
What are the details of the 12 hour rotating shift? 12 hour shifts with 3 on, 4 off, 4 on, 3 off? That sounds pretty decent if it is day shift. Graveyard shifts are difficult if you have a family.

Steve

Oh yeah there's a graveyard shift involved. Here's how it works:

A*A*A*A* XXX AAA X A*A*A* XXX AAAA XXXXXXX Then repeats itself. The A* is night shift, A is day shift, and X are your days off.

LOML and I don't have any kids at home anymore, but that doesn't mean the shift's won't be a cause of stress.

When I worked the other type of shifts the kids were at home and it involved 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shifts.

Jerry Bruette
02-20-2015, 12:46 PM
Matt,

Sounds like the Paper Industry.

Just throwing out a guess.

When I worked the 3 rotating shifts we called it a Southern Swing also, I didn't mind it because it seemed to ease a person into and out of the midnight shift. My wife and I both disliked the 2nd shift the most (didn't get to see her or the kids much on 2nd shift).

Matt Marsh
02-20-2015, 1:43 PM
Close Jerry, OSB industry here in Northern MN. My wife and I never had kids, so I actually got a lot accomplished on 2nd shift. It was also my snowmobiling time with the other buddies on my shift. With Southern Swing, you only get one weekend off per month, and I hated that. It seemed like I always missed the family things going on.


Matt,

Sounds like the Paper Industry.

Just throwing out a guess.

When I worked the 3 rotating shifts we called it a Southern Swing also, I didn't mind it because it seemed to ease a person into and out of the midnight shift. My wife and I both disliked the 2nd shift the most (didn't get to see her or the kids much on 2nd shift).

Matt Marsh
02-20-2015, 1:47 PM
The modified started you on day shift on a Thursday DDDDDDD XXXX EEEEE XXXX NNNNNNN XX, then it repeats.

Steve Peterson
02-20-2015, 8:31 PM
So it looks like you will be working 14 12 hour days out of every 28 days. One week off per month sounds pretty cool, but the rest sounds grueling.

If it were me, I would lose a day before and after each shift change where I would be trying to get my body to shift time zones. The 7 days off would end up being only 5 useable days off.

It does not sound like something I would want to do, unless I really liked the job. If the money was really good, then I would try to tough it out for a couple of years and try to take a few months off or retire early.

Be careful using any power tools when your body is in sleep deprivation mode.

Steve

Brian Elfert
02-20-2015, 9:37 PM
Working varying shifts is way harder than consistently working a 2nd or 3rd shift. I normally work 1st shift M-F. Occasionally I have to get up at 3 am, or even midnight to do some off hours work. It takes several days to get back to "normal" after doing this just once. Working a later shift than normal doesn't bother me if it ends before 10 pm as my sleep schedule doesn't change. I rarely work in the evening as that is a busy time for our industry and I can't make changes then.

One of my co-workers worked on a project that required starting work at 2 am several times a week for several weeks. He found it easier just to shift his work schedule to start at 2 am every day during the project instead of coming in at 2 am one day and then 9 am the next day.

Jim Matthews
02-21-2015, 8:29 AM
What's the injury/productivity rate for those working 12 hour shifts?

I understand that vigilance drops in half every hour after 7 worked.
If it's a repetitive task, that's a recipe for amputations and an early retirement.

Caution is advised - you can always earn more money.
You'll never get more time.

Malcolm Schweizer
02-21-2015, 9:33 AM
Nurses work 12 hour shifts. I think that is dangerous. They usually do 3 or 4 on, then 3 or 4 off. I guess that's cool. I had employees on 4:10 shifts. 4 days a week, 10 hours a day. I rotated the days off so that they got 4 days in a row once a month. They loved it. We only could have a few routes on that shift and people fought for them.

Chris Parks
02-21-2015, 9:47 AM
I worked a permanent 6pm to 3am shift for a few years and before that a permanent afternoon shift beginning at 1pm. I could never envisage how anyone could quickly shift their sleep pattern to suit a rotating shift pattern. They could not pay me enough money to work a rotating shift sequence. The reason they pay the big money on shift work is because of the problems faced by those who work it.

Paul Saffold
02-21-2015, 11:19 AM
I have worked straight days, straight 3-11, what you are calling southern swing, and 12 hr rotating. Not having kids made it easier I'm sure, but rotating shift schedules are very hard on your body. Lots of medical studies showing the mental and physical toll of rotating shift work.

Of all the rotating shifts, my favorite was 12 hr. shifts 7 to 7, working 60 hrs one week then 24 the next. Didn't do much outside of work the long week, but every other weekend off was nice. DDOONNN OODDOOO NNOODDD OONNOOO.

It was confusing as heck for family and friends to keep track of. It was nice to be able to schedule things like doctor and car appointments and deal with businesses only open during the day. Everything is a trade off.

Paul

Jerome Stanek
02-21-2015, 12:20 PM
I have worked swing shifts and hated it just abut the time you get used to the sleep work cycle you change to a different one. Where I my first job was I worked the 4pm shift. It was supposed to end at 12:30 but there was no shift after that and the day shift started at 8 AM so sometimes we would be there when it came in. We did one job that I started Monday and left Thursday caught some sleep on a couch in the break room.