On Mon, September 8, 2008 10:15, Johnson, Ted wrote:
>
> 2. Except in an declared emergency, no person, having the care, custody
> or control of another person, or performing any duty that presents a
> danger to the heath or safety of any other person, shall work more than
> eight hours in any twenty-four hour period.  Except in a declared
> emergency, no person shall work more than ten hours in any twenty-four
> hour period regardless of circumstance.
>
> So you are against Firefighters working 24 hour shifts?
>

Yes. Most emphatically.  Chronic fatigue and exhaustion in health and
safety workers is one of the most insidious and pervasive factors
contributing to accidental death.

Human beings simply do not respond well when they are tired. Research
indicates that human response times after eight hours of continuous
wakefulness is impaired to the same degree as the consumption of 30 ml of
grain alcohol (Gaba D. & Howard S., 2002). Other research indicates that
the effect grows progressively worse for each additional hour of
continuous consciousness until a state of complete incapacitation is
reached at about 20 hours (Jha, A. K., Bradford, Duncan, B.W., & Bates
D.W., 2004). In fact, even when subjects are allowed to nap, those that
sleep less than six consecutive hours in a twenty-four hour period suffer
a 40% reduction to their baseline cognitive and response facilities.

It borders on insanity to devise a system which demands that a person who
has been awake for more than eight hours make life and death decisions.

Pose the question this way: Are you against firefighters consuming alcohol
while on duty? If so, then why would anyone support an employment practice
that has the same effect?

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James B. Byrne                mailto:[log in to unmask]
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