"Select a shiftwork schedule that would have the least
harmful effect on the employee's health, family and personal life -
consult employees and specialists in shift
scheduling." (International Hazard Data Sheet on Occupation for
Police/Law Enforcement Officer, International Labour Organisation,
1999)
The International Labour Organisation ( www.ilo.org
) recognises shiftwork as an 'ergonomic, psychological and
organisational' hazard related to the job, and states, as the
preventative measure:
" Select a shiftwork schedule that would have the least
harmful effect on the employee's health, family and personal life -
consult employees and specialists in shift
scheduling."
The Health and Safety Executive (
www.hse.gov.uk),
in their book "Reducing Error and
Influencing Behaviour" (HSE 1999)
recommend a 'best practice' management approach
towards minimising the impact of shift work, which
will go beyond what is required by the
health and safety legislation and will include:
- careful planning of shift rostering taking into account knowledge
of the effects of biological rhythms;
- education of shift workers on sleep routines,
nutrition, effects on family and social life, exercise;
- environmental design changes, especially
those aspects which can improve alertness
such as temperature, lighting and comfort levels;
- providing medical advice for shift workers,
especially for those with existing medical conditions.
Recommending a 'best practice' management approach to minimising the impact of shiftwork,
and specifying preventative and control measures, suggests that the HSE
also recognises shiftwork per se as an occupational health and safety
hazard.
If shiftwork is an OHS hazard, then employers are required, by
virtue of Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at
Work Regulations 1999, to assess the risks of
shiftwork in the same way as any other OHS hazard using, for example,
the HSE's '5-Steps to Risk Assessment' approach, namely:
- Identify the hazards.
- Decide who may be harmed and how.
- Evaluate the risks and decide the control measures necessary.
- Record the findings.
- Review the assessment from time to time and revise it if
necessary.
The adverse effects associated with shiftwork and irregular working hours
include:
- increased risk of accidents and injuries caused by sleep debt
and fatigue.
- increased risk to physical health caused by disruption to
biological rhythms and disturbed eating patterns.
- increased risk to mental health caused by disruption to
biological rhythms and working unsociable/extended hours.
- increased exposure to other occupational hazards such as
chemicals, heat, noise, poor lighting, manual handling and
violence.
In Australia, the National Occupational Health and Safety
Commission and the Australian Council of Trade Unions both recognise
shiftwork as an OHS hazard and have published guidance for employers
on assessing and managing the risks associated with shiftwork.
The first and foremost control measure is to eliminate, or reduce as
far as possible, the need for shiftwork.
The second control measure is to adopt shift schedules
that are based on ergonomic and medical recommendations.
In order to demonstrate their general duty of care under the health
and safety legislation, Police Forces in the UK need to consider
appointing or consulting a 'competent person', as
described under Regulation 7 of the MHSWR 1999, who "has
sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities
to enable him to assist" them in devising suitable shift
schedules.
Police Forces also need to review their traditional organisation of
work and working practices in the light of the Working Time
Regulations and health and safety legislation to ensure that
officers do not work excessive hours, and that they are given the
opportunity to take the rest breaks and rest periods to which they
are entitled.
How do you Risk Assess Shift Schedules?
The Health and Safety Executive have published a
report "Validation and development of a method for
assessing the risks arising from mental fatigue",
Contract Research Report 254/1999, which involves the calculation of a
Fatigue Index to help assess the risks arising from the
impact of shift schedules on mental fatigue in safety critical work.
The Fatigue Index requires the calculation of 5
factors, namely shift start time (F1), shift duration (F2), rest period
between shifts (F3), breaks during shifts (F4) and cumulative
fatigue (F5), which are added together to give an overall index for
the shift schedule.
The Fatigue Index provides a straightforward way of
comparing the features of two working patterns in terms of their
relative contributions to fatigue. It does not provide an absolute
measure of fatigue.
The calculations involved are not complicated
although they can be time consuming. The HSE suggests that they
could be incorporated into a spreadsheet for automatic calculation.
The Fatigue Index has been presented to a
wide range of industries and the feedback suggests that it may be a
useful tool for providing employers with an initial risk
assessment of the levels of fatigue associated with a particular
shift schedule.
Police Forces should perhaps consider using the
Fatigue Index as an initial means of assessing their own shift
schedules.
Night Work
In 1990 the General Conference of the International
Labour Organisation convened in Geneva and considered certain
proposals with regard to night work. The Conference determined
that some of those proposals should be adopted and should take the form
of an international Convention (the Night Work Convention 1990)
whilst other proposals should be adopted and should take the form of
a Recommendation (the Night Work Recommendation 1990),
supplementing those in the Night Work Convention 1990.
Paragraph 3(1) of the Recommendation states that the provisions
of the Recommendation may be implemented by laws or regulations, collective
agreements, arbitration awards or court decisions, a combination of
these means or in any other manner appropriate to national
conditions and practice.
Paragraph 4(1) states that the normal hours of work
for night workers should not exceed eight in any 24 hour
period in which they perform night work, except in the case of work
which includes substantial periods of mere attendance or
stand-by.
Paragraph 4(2) further states that the normal hours
of night workers should generally be less on average than and,
in any case, not exceed on average those workers performing the same
work to the same requirement by day in the branch of activity
or the undertaking concerned.
Paragraph 11 states in determining the content of the tasks assigned
to night workers, account should be taken of the nature of night work
and of the effects of environmental factors and forms of work
organisation. Special attention should be paid to factors
such as toxic substances, noise, vibration and lighting levels and to forms
of work organisation involving heavy physical or mental strain. Cumulative
effects from such factors and forms of work organisation should be avoided
or reduced.
The European Council Directive No.93/104/EC of 23
November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of
working time does not go as far as the Night Work Recommendation
1990 in limiting the hours of night workers. Article 8(1) states that the normal
hours of work for night workers must not exceed an average of
eight hours in any 24 hour period (over the reference period)
and qualifies this in Article 8(2) by further stating that only night
workers whose work involves special hazards or heavy physical or
mental strain must not work more than eight hours in any
period of 24 hours during which they perform night work.
For the purposes of Article 8, work involving special hazards or
heavy physical or mental strain shall be defined by national
legislation and/or practice or by collective agreements or
agreements concluded between the two sides of industry, taking
account of the specific effects and hazards of night work. In other
words the EC Directive avoided being as prescriptive as the Night
Work Recommendation 1990 in defining such effects and hazards itself.
The provisions of the Working Time Regulations 1998
with regard night work follow those of the EC Directive. Regulation
6(1) reiterates the provisions of Article 8(1) whilst Regulation 6(7)
reiterates the provisions of Article 8(2):
However, in addition Regulation 6(8) states that the
work of a night worker shall be regarded as involving special
hazards or heavy physical or mental strain if (a) it is identified
as such in (i) a collective agreement, or (ii) a workforce
agreement, which takes account of the specific effects and hazards
of night work, or (b) it is recognised in a risk assessment made by
the employer under Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and
Safety at Work Regulations 1992 as involving a significant risk to
the health or safety of workers employed by him.
It is worth noting that Regulation 6(1) only mentions 'normal hours
of work'. It makes no mention of hours of work engaged in on
'night work'. So, as long as during the reference period a nightworker does not
exceed the average limit on 'normal hours' determined by the formula in
6(5) there would appear to be no problem with him/her working more than 8 hours on
nightshifts. It seems a pointless formula to include, as basically a
worker would have to exceed the maximum average 48 hour weekly limit
over the reference period before he was in any danger of exceeding
the night work limit.
It should also be noted that when Regulation 6(7) makes special provision for work that
"involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental
strain" it does not say that that work is only carried out
at night. It says that if someone, who has been classed
as a night worker under the Regulations, undertakes work that has
been recognised as involving special hazards or heavy physical or mental
strain (at any time of the day) then he should not work for any more than 8 hours in any 24 hour
period during which he is specifically performing night work.
So, the question is NOT whether 'night work' in the
police service involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental
strain. It is whether night workers in the police are
undertaking work which, when performed at any time of the day,
involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain. If they
are, then their working hours should be restricted to eight
hours in any 24 hours during which they perform night work. There is
a subtle difference!
In applying Regulation 6(8) to the Police service, it
would appear that it is at the discretion of each Chief Constable whether or
not to agree, with his staff associations, that police duties involve
'special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain'. The Home Office
Manual on Police Health and Safety, Volume Two, states that
"By its very nature policing has always been a hazardous
occupation". To argue that this statement is an acknowledgement
that police work involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental
strain is perhaps as equally erroneous as to argue that it doesn't.
Risk assessments are task specific and therefore, each activity
or duty needs to be properly assessed to determine the level of risk
associated with it.
Volume Three of the Manual, A Guide on Risk Assessment
(
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/phsint.html ), is intended to assist
police managers to conduct risk assessments of various police
activities. Generic risk assessments are provided as templates only,
and it is not sufficient for Force's to adopt them as their
actual risk assessments
In conducting their own risk assessments, Forces may
determine that some police activities involve 'Medium' or 'High'
risk. It has been accepted at ACPO level that where this is the
case, then that activity involves a 'significant risk'. Where such an
activity is recognised as involving 'significant risk' then by virtue
of Regulation 6(8)(b) it is regarded as involving 'special hazards or heavy
physical or mental strain', for the purposes of the Working
Time Regulations. Therefore such a risk assessment would determine
whether or not those officers who are classed as night workers and
who carry out that activity, should work for any more than 8 hours in
any 24 hour period during which they perform night work. This would,
in turn, determine the type of shift pattern that is appropriate for
those officers and, in particular, the length of their night shift
duty.
It would be helpful, and perhaps appropriate and in spirit with
the provisions of the Night Work Recommendations and the EC Directive,
for a national agreement to be reached between the Official Side and
Staff Side, as to which policing activities involve significant risk
and which do not, in order to promote uniformity in the application
of this Regulation within the Police Service.