What’s the best way to address safety at work?
Sometimes it helps to identify the most vulnerable points in the business when it comes to risk management and safety concerns. There are certain aspects of business operations that are going to be less safe. Identifying these gives the company a head start in mitigating risk factors and addressing safety concerns.
One of the big categories of warning signs in work safety often revolves around the night shift.
Nighttime can be a prime time for work safety scenarios to pop up and, for a number reasons, the night shift can be statistically less safe than the day shift.
Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation messes with people’s circadian rhythms. The night shift often leads to sleep deprivations for workers, since it’s not really the body’s natural inclination and doesn’t follow societies established schedule of sleep.
With that in mind, it’s important to monitor and make sure that night shift workers are getting enough sleep to keep them alert and making good decisions throughout the night.
Skeleton Crews and Business as Usual
Another issue with the night shift is big changes to normal business operations.
Machines and assembly lines that may be operating one way during the day can be operating a very different way at night. Ramping up or down production work on night shift operations can have a significant effect on protocol. So these changes are also something to watch when evaluating safety on the night shift. Different workers may be in charge of specialized equipment – they may have less experience than the workers who are in charge of that equipment during the day. These and other changes need to be evaluated carefully.
Less Oversight
During the day, a company may have team leaders, managers or top executives who routinely walk the floor looking for safety issues. Many of these people will work a 9-to-5 shift and go home at night. So in any kind of industry, there tends to be less oversight during the night hours. This is yet another risk factor in night shift work that has to be worked into a safety plan.
Remaining vigilant about workplace safety, especially on the night shift, can protect front-line workers and save companies serious costs and liability.
About Full Steam Staffing
Full Steam Staffing is a full-service staffing agency in Modesto focused on providing clerical and light industrial staffing solutions to manufacturers, distribution centers and other organizations that need qualified, reliable workers. If you are currently looking to hire and grow your workforce, contact our team of skilled recruiters today!