The spread of shiftwork in the European Community

Eurofound — European Foundation For The Improvement Of Living And Working Conditions

Description

United Kingdom
Employment policy
Working conditions

Informations

• Publié par: EUROFOUND-EUROPEAN-FOUNDATION-FOR-THE-IMPROVEMENT-OF-LIVING-AND-WORKING-CONDITIO
• Nombre de lectures: 15
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 9 Mo

Extrait

the spread ot
shittw0rk
in the
european community
United Kingdom
FFtgo/9/8flCOPYTjght Of THE EUROPEAN FOUNDATION F.OR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LIVING
AND I,oRKING CoNDTTIoNS, 1gB0
For rights of transLatjon or reproduction, appLication shou[d be made
to the Director, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living
and I'lorking conditions, LoughLinstown House, shanki LL, co. DubLin,
I re t and.PREFACE
This volume is one of a series d.ealing with the spread. of shiftwork in
the marrufacturing se ct or in the member States of the European Comnunity.
These surveys constitute the first phase'of the stud-ies concerned" with
shiftwork, undertaken on the initiative of the European Found.ation. The
purpose of these surveys to pi-cture was obtain a of the situation in each
of the nine cou:rtries particular, a,nd., in to obtain the maximrm amolnt
of information on the nature, scaLe and. evolution of shiftworking, on the
legislation collective and ag?eements in this area, on i-nnovations in
rotation systerns in the length of shifts in the and. area of the 1iving
cond.itions of shiftwdrkers.
This stud.y was d.ealt with phases:in two
1) a report hlas prepared. by a research institute in each
member State;
2) all the reports were then evaluated. by representatives of
Governments, emproyers and" workers, each of these three groups
comparing the arralysis contained. in the reports with the
experience of its respective members. rf appropriate, the
groups made proposaLs aimed. at improving the situation in
shiftwork. Each group gave its opinion in the form of a
uritten evaluation report.
This method. reflects the Found.ationls interest in promoti.ng a tJrpe of
research which combines the expertsr approach to problem the with the
practical experience of people active in the field. of working cond.itions.
The pro ced.ure fo I lowed. in this stud.y of the spread. of shifthrork in the
manufacturing se ctor is refle ct ed. in the composition of this volume,
which consists of:
t) a s;mthesis report prepared by the services of the Found.ation
as a working d.ocument for the evaluation seminar;b n2
, 2) the evaluation reports by the representatives of Governments,
empl-oyers and. workers, based. on working group sessi.ons d.uring a
seminar held. in Dublin the at ei:d. of L978;
stud.y 3) a carried out by ItrF Research Lirnited. on shiftwork in
the manufacturing sector in the UK.
Those interested in the other stud.ies currently available (in ttre
original language or in Engtish translation) can obtain them fron
the European Fourrd-ation.
The European Found.ation wishes to stress that the analyses a3d. opinions
contained. in the stud.y reports the sole are responsibility of the
institutes which compiled. them.,SYNT}IE$i$ NCTE
P}?3]PARED
BY T}JE I+OTJNNATIOIVI]UROI)]JAN I'OUNDAI-ION f".OR'I'II}J IMPROVEMENT OF LIVING (]()NDI1'ION,SAND WORKIN(;
rry TIm EUR0PEÄII COMMUNTTY-gHrFTlf0RK
1. Extent of shiftwork
1'1 [he reports have shown a great d.iversity between the countries.
lliis d.iversit;r reflects the specific national situations but
it also arises from the heterogeneou,s character of inforrnation
gathered. on the subject in the member states.
The d.isparity of the statisticar sources d.oes not permit a
strictly scientific comparison of statisticar d.ata, arthough
it is possible to show a certain nunber of significant traits
concerning the spread and the evolutionary trend.s of shiftwork.
1'2 The bra,nches of ind.ustry in which it appears that shiftwork
is particularly extensive are:
metallurgy
glass potteryand
chenicals
food, drink and tobacco
text iles
pulp and paper
mechanical engineering
1.3 rn general one f ind.s greater a proportion of shiftwor.kers in
ind.ustries where the rate of investment in fixed. capital is
higher than the average.
iitirl.itiitt,vilir','r rlrorr,sf. ,^hunRill, gs t'o. tluhlin. r<,rcplutnt:; ( 7 t Js4, !ittts) tt:lc.v. .j(t',t-)(tr'l
(t
1.4 In very general a way, it can be observed that there is
an increase in shiftwork. This increase particularlyis
noticeable in the nechanical engineering, food., drink
and tobacco, plastics, and. paper sectors. However it is
necessary to note that this arises much more from an
increase the pröportion in of number of workerg affected.
than frorn an increase in.the of establishments
production using such a system.
1.5 Even if one observes a, general d"ecrease in emploJrment in
given a branch of industryr it appears that proportionthe
of shiftworkers rnay remaj.n the S äJIl9 r
"l 1.6 .6.1 Regard.ing the trend. of d.evelopment of shiftwork
accord.ing to the shift syst effir important
d.isparit i es appear both at int ernat ional comparison
l eve1 and" at nat ional region by regiorlr,
1 .6.2 There d.oes not appear to be a generar connection
concerning the d.evelopment of continuous and,
s€ilti-continuous hrork relative to the d.evelopment
of d.iscontinuous However work. a tend.ency to a
reduct ion in night hrork shor,',rn is although t end.ingr
to apply to cleaning, machine surveillance and.
maint enance hrork.
1,7 The following table ind.icates the proportion of shiftworkers,
by shift system, percentage as a of total shiftworkers: