Those who work shifts other than standard daylight shifts face many health and safety challenges that their dayshift counterparts don't have. There are some ways that a supervisor can help to mitigate these challenges. Last week, we discussed the first thing you must do: ensure that your shiftworkers have access to regular safety training. Today we'll look at the five remaining ways that you can help keep your shiftworkers safe and healthy.

2. Provide Access to Nutritious Meals

Shiftworkers often have trouble eating regular nutritious meals and may suffer from more stomach upsets than people who work regular daytime hours. This is because the digestive system is designed to slow down in the early morning hours, when workers would ordinarily be sleeping. Eating a heavy meal late at night or in the early morning hours is likely to lead to digestive problems. And eating a big meal before going to bed is also a bad idea, as digesting a lot of food interferes with sleep. Many chronic digestive ailments, such as heartburn, constipation and diarrhea, can often be prevented or controlled by a proper diet and regular meals.

You can help your shiftworkers eat properly by:

• Providing shiftworkers with access to food services
• Supplying fruits, vegetables and whole grain snacks in the vending machines
• Supplying kitchen facilities so that workers can bring a nutritious meal from home to be eaten midway through the shift
• Providing drinking water and/or fruit juice to aid digestion

3. Provide Checklists

When working shifts, workers may not be alert as they could be. Be mindful of their mental acuity. You can help shiftworkers follow procedures carefully by providing them with detailed checklists, especially if the workers are to perform complicated tasks.

4. Be Mindful of Fatigue

Shiftworkers often suffer from fatigue. And fatigue is more than a personal problem - it's a safety problem. Serious accidents and large-scale disasters have been attributed to tired night workers. The human body is designed to sleep at night and be awake in the daytime. Workers are particularly vulnerable in the early morning hours when it is difficult to stay awake and alert.

Remember that fatigue is not a disciplinary issue but rather a shiftwork hazard that you and your crew need to address. There are two ways to do this:

• Provide an area where shiftworkers can exercise before their shift to wake themselves up.
• If napping on breaks is possible in your workplace, give your workers permission to do so and make arrangements for them to be awakened to return to the plant floor on time.

5. Address Personal Security Concerns

Those who work at night require special precautious to protect their personal security. For example:

• Ensure that the parking area is well lighted
• If possible, provide a parking lot escort
• Explain to your shiftworkers the company's security procedures to prevent robberies, assaults, arson and other crimes
• Provide ways that shiftworkers can keep in contact with their co-workers throughout their shift

6. Keep the Schedule Consistent

You can help your shiftworkers maintain consistency in their lives by keeping their schedules consistent. However, if this is not possible, offer workers shifts that rotate forward, with progressively later starting times. This means moving from a day shift to an afternoon shift to a night shift. And think twice before requesting workers take on extra shifts and overtime. The occasional long haul may not be harmful, but habitually working extra shifts can be harmful to their health and safety.

Conclusion

Shiftwork can be a tough life. You can make it easier on your workers by ensuring access to safety training, encouraging healthy eating and being mindful of the effects of fatigue.

GO FIGURE

Great American Smokeout

By Catherine Jones

What does this number represent? 45.3 million

Answer: It's the approximate number of American adults who are current cigarette smokers.

November 15, 2007 marks the 31st annual Great American Smokeout, organized by the American Cancer Society to encourage cigarette smokers to butt out for at least one day.

Why quit? Here are some motivating statistics:

• 20 minutes after quitting, a smoker's heart rate and blood pressure drops
• 12 hours after quitting, the carbon monoxide level in a smoker's blood drops to normal
• 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting, a smoker's circulation improves and lung function increases
• 1 to 9 months after quitting, coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
• 1 year after quitting, an ex-smoker's risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's

For more good reasons to quit smoking, visit the Great American Smokeout.

(Source: American Cancer Society)

THIS JUST IN

OSHA Rules That US Employers Must Pay for Most PPE

By Dave Duncan

US employers already pay for 95 percent of personal protective equipment (PPE), according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Soon they will be asked to pay for most of the remaining five percent, according to an OSHA announcement made yesterday (November 14, 2007).

OSHA has issued a final rule stating that, with few exceptions, employers must provide free of charge all PPE used to comply with OSHA general industry, construction and maritime standards.

The final rule contains exceptions for certain ordinary protective equipment, such as safety-toe footwear, prescription safety eyewear, everyday clothing and weather-related gear, and logging boots.

"This final rule will clarify who is responsible for paying for PPE, which OSHA anticipates will lead to greater compliance and potential avoidance of thousands of workplace injuries each year," OSHA Administrator Edwin Foulke Jr. said Wednesday.

Foulke says the rule "implements the underlying requirement in the OSH Act that employers pay for workplace safety and health" and creates a clear and consistent policy across OSHA standards, "reducing confusion about the items that employers are required to pay for."

The biggest benefit, according to Foulke, is that the rule will result in at least 21,000 fewer occupation injuries per year, "such as head, foot and eye injuries, lacerations, and chemical burns that, in many cases, may be so severe that they can leave an employee permanently disabled."

"When employers pay for PPE they are more likely to select the right PPE for the hazards present in their workplaces," says Foulke, adding that employers who purchase PPE tend to ensure it is maintained and replaced as necessary.

According to Foulke, "It is this improvement in PPE usage that is expected to result in fewer injuries and fatalities."

The rule does not require employers to provide PPE where none has been required before. It only applies when equipment is used by an employer to comply with one of the PPE requirements in OSHA's standards. In some cases the exact PPE required is specified, while in others the requirements are more general.

More information can be found on the OSHA News Room page.

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