365x24x7

Fri Apr 15 14:27:32 UTC 2011

On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 2:14 PM, harbor235 <harbor235 at gmail.com> wrote:
> If I were going to provide a 365x24x7 NOC, how many teams of personnel do I
> need
> to fully cover operations? I assume minimally you need 3 teams to cover the
> required
> 24 hr coverage, but there is off time and schedule rotation?

Well, if you feel like being "nice" to your employees, or want to stop
them from making mistakes a few months/years in to shift work, (or if
you're having to set something up abroad), the Working Time Directive
can be a useful guideline.

(Full details at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_Time_Directive
and http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1073858926
if you're board, ignore the silly bits)

But basically, in general, workers aged 18 and over are entitled to:

- work no more than six days out of every seven, or 12 out of every 14
- take a 20-minute break if their shift lasts for more than six hours
- work a maximum 48-hour average week

And in general, night workers:

- should not work more than an average of eight hours in a 24-hour
period, averaged over a reference period of 17 weeks

If you're an employer, be glad you're in North America :-)

HTH,

Alex