Abstracts
Résumé
Après avoir indiqué les raisons d'ordre technique, économique et social du travail en équipes, l’auteur en expose les formes et l’organisation. Puis, il en souligne les principales difficultés familiales, sociales, et physiologiques. Enfin, il suggère des moyens pour améliorer la situation existante.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Shift work more and more appears to be an economical necessity and seems to spread into many industrial sectors — almost everybody is submitted to it. However, it is necessary to have a better knowledge of the advantages and dangers of that kind of work in order to prevent and to palliate them.
ITS CAUSES
The technical reasons that are the origin of that kind of work are well known. But economical factors are much more important and determine the actual growth of shift work — Those factors are :
a) the cost of equipment is higher ;
b) because of progress, equipment grows older more rapidly than its real depreciation.
However there are a few social reasons for shift work :
a ) a few public services cannot be stopped ;
b) the necessity of lenghtening opening hours of stores, etc.
Shift work is thus a characteristic of an advanced period of the technical, economical and social evolution of industrial societies.
ITS FORMS
Even though that kind of work is quite used in large firms, note is to be taken that shift work has different forms depending of the industrial sector.
The General Commisariate of the French Plan has published in its survey a graphic that clearly shows the mentioned differences.
TABLE I
THE DISTRIBUTION OF SHIFT-WORKERS IN THE INDUSTRIAL SECTORS
Percentage of firms using % of wage earners working on
shift work shifts in every sector
Metal production 60.4 55.0
Textile industry 39.1 37.0
Paper industry 35.1 29.0
Chemical industry 26.1 26.0
Building material 22.0 20.0
As a general rule, let us say that in France, one wage-earner out of six works on shifts. Thus only a minority of wage-earners are implied in that kind of work ; however it is not an exception anymore limited to some industrial sectors.
ITS ORGANIZATION
That are mainly two sorts of shift work : the two team and the three team shift-work :
1 ) In the two team shift work, the system is quite homogeneous : only beginning and ending hours of work vary. The most fluently practiced time table is the following :
6 a.m. — 2 p.m. — morning team ;
2 p.m. — 10 p.m. — afternoon team.
2) In the three team shift work, in the textile industry, for example, the usual time tables are :
5 a.m. — 1 p.m. — morning team ;
1 p.m. — 9 p.m. — afternoon team ;
9 p.m. — 5 a.m. — night team.
However, in the textile industry, the percentage of women employed brings out many difficulties.
Three systems of organization exist :
1.—In the first system, the worker changes of shift each week.
2.—In the second, the order of succession of the shifts is different : from P.M. to A.M., from A.M. to night shift and from night shift to P.M.
3.—The third system officially requires three teams to cover the twenty four hours. In fact, this system needs four teams : three teams are working while the fourth is at rest.
The complexity of three problems is in fact due to the difficulties and practices of each industry and is also due to the difficulties met in their application and to the preference of wage-earners to certain time tables.
Those difficulties are at the same time :
a ) familial
— change in normal life customs.
— difficulties in practicing familial responsabilities.
b) social
— difficulties in keeping in relations with friends.
— the shift-worker feels « social dead ».
— he feels on the fringe of the union, the firm and society.
— he cannot take advantage of formation and leisure program.
c) physiological.
The dangers of shift work are quite discussed. Note is to be taken that it has been proven that workers are more inclined to work on the morning shift than on any other shift. In fact, as Menzel puts it, there is a general deficiency of blood circulation during night time.
On the other hand, daily rest, in order to be as complete and refreshing as night rest, would necessitate silence and lodging facilities that are quite rare at the present time especially in France.
The following table on insomnia illustrates my idea :
TABLE II
WORKERS AFFECTED BY INSOMNIA
% affected by insomnia
Living at their Bad lodging
place conditions
Day-labourer 12 18
Shift workers 15 75
Day-labourer having been shift-worker 84 97
However, two points must be taken into consideration about women in the labor force :
a) shift work is often imposed to them and, because of their non-unionization, it is difficult for them to resist ;
b) night shift affects domestic duties of women.
Note is to be taken that the major cause of physiological and nervous desiquilibrium is the frequent changes in time tables. Thus keeping the body from finding a regular life rythm so necessary.
CONCLUSION
One could solve the problem by using four teams instead of three : the night shift would not work more than four hours. To do so, it would be preferable to employ half time workers especially for those night shifts.
The present situation could be ameliorated :
a) by avoiding to ask workers living far from the firm or having bad lodging
conditions to work on night shifts ;
b ) by increasing medical supervision of these workers ;
c) by avoiding to place on work shift those who cannot medically get adapted to it or older workers used to work daily on fixed time tables ;
d) by making a special effort to give medical information to employers and wage earners on the dangers of changing time-tables.
It seems that we are inclined to a greater use of this kind of work. We must try to adapt it to man. The contrary is impossible. Even economies will never modify physological laws. That is why research must be continued in order to determine the dangers of shift work. In addition to this, an information campaign must be undertaken in order to eliminate changing time-tables.