Shift work

In world medicine and epidemiology, shift work is considered to be a risk factor for the health of some people, since circadian rhythm disturbances can increase the likelihood of cardiovascular disease , cognitive impairment , obesity and diabetes ^{[1] [2]} .

In developed countries, the number of people working in shifts reaches 20% of the total working population. Health problems among shift workers include disturbances in sleep , metabolism , gastrointestinal diseases, and an increase in cases of cardiovascular disease. More often than working day shifts, there is a high level of triglycerides and cholesterol , a low concentration of high density lipoproteins . There is evidence that such indicators serve as a risk factor not only for cardiovascular diseases, but also for malignant tumors ^[3] .

The mechanisms underlying the increased risk of malignant tumors among those working on night shifts can be associated with circadian rhythm disturbances and forced light exposure at night, which leads to a reduction in the production of melatonin , a known biological carcinogen blocker ^[3] .

In a number of industries, the features of technological processes and performance requirements are such that it is impossible to fulfill them in single-shift mode. These include, for example:

• Continuous production (for example, a blast furnace in which furnaces have been operating continuously for several years, and an unscheduled stop is equivalent to a major accident).
• Emergency services - police , fire , rescue , medical , gas service - where you need to ensure a minimum reaction time at any time of the day.
• Service industry enterprises, trade.
• Transport enterprises (for example, on the railway , where trains are running around the clock, and an unscheduled interruption in work can lead to serious problems and unacceptable delays in train traffic).
• Any production where it is required to ensure an increase in the volume of production per unit of time due to more intensive use of the fleet of available production equipment and facilities.

In such cases, shift work is organized - workers are divided into groups (shifts) that work sequentially in such a way as to exclude interruptions in the process. Although it is incorrect to call groups of workers shifts, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation - Russia defines a shift as a working day (Article 93 of the Labor Code of Russia) or as work (Article 94.96 of the Labor Code of Russia), that is, in fact, a shift is working time . Therefore, for the organization of shift work, it is not necessary at all for groups of workers to succeed each other, it is enough if one employee replaces another. Shift work requires strict observance of the 40-hour working week (Article 91 of the Labor Code of Russia), the maximum duration of breaks in work (Article 108 of the Labor Code of Russia) and sufficient duration of weekly inter-shift rest (Article 110 of the Labor Code of Russia).

Russian labor law gives the employer the right to organize shift work if necessary. The shift work procedure is determined by Art. 103 of the Labor Code of Russia , which requires, in particular, that the shift schedule be brought to the attention of employees no later than a month before its entry into force, and also categorically prohibits work for two shifts in a row.

The duration of the shift is not regulated by the Labor Code, except for certain categories of workers ( minors , people with disabilities ), so the work schedule should only ensure compliance with the Labor Code regarding the maximum working time per week.

At the same time, the working time mode, in which work can be performed by one group of workers during the day, is not a shift mode. One can speak of a shift regime in cases where work is performed during the day by alternately different successive groups of workers.

With a shift of working hours, at least two shifts per day should be set, and, therefore, the duration of one shift with a shift of working hours cannot be 24 hours.

Depending on the particular requirements of a particular production, shift work can be organized either within the standard working week (five- or six-day) with one or two regular days off, or otherwise, then the days off are determined by the shift schedule and may occur on different days of the week. The shift schedule can be drawn up for various periods. In continuous production, where it is impossible to provide an equal weekly load, the schedule is drawn up for the accounting period in which all the hours worked must not exceed the total maximum working time for this time according to the Labor Code.

Two-shift work

Two shifts are distinguished, usually “day”, “evening” or “ night ” (with 12-hour work), the total time of which usually does not exceed 16 hours. Often a continuous schedule of two shifts of 12 hours is applied. As a rule, with a 12-hour shift, work occurs in two shifts:

• 6: 00-18: 00 - day shift;
• 18: 00–6: 00 - night shift;

Three-shift work (four-team schedule)

For continuous production with a large number of employees, the “four brigade ” work scheme is considered optimal. Workers are divided into four brigades, and every day three brigades work, each on their own shift, and one rests. In the Russian industry, the typical shift distribution for four-team, three-shift work is as follows:

• four days on a night shift from 23:00 to 7:00, then two days off;
• four days a day shift from 7:00 to 15:00, then one day off;
• four days in the evening shift from 15:00 to 23:00, then one day off.

In such a schedule, at a rate of 167 hours per month, the teams will actually work for different times - 128, 178, 152, 184 hours, therefore, the schedule is drawn up for the accounting period of several months, which allows you to compensate for the processing of one month by a deficiency in others and on average to ensure compliance weekly working hours.

Three-shift work (five-team schedule, aka “schedule 72”)

Workers are divided into five teams. In Russian industry, the typical shift distribution for 5-team 3-shift work is as follows:

• two days a day shift from 8:00 to 16:00, then two days off (48 hours);
• two days in the evening shift from 16:00 to 24:00, then one day off (“transitional”, equal to 24 hours);
• two days on a night shift from 0:00 to 8:00, then three days off (one “loose” and two days off, total 72 hours).

One cycle is 10 days. Each month, teams will work from 136 to 152 hours each.

• Self employment

• Night shift work can cause mental illness and cancer