365x24x7

Mon Apr 18 04:12:04 UTC 2011

On Apr 17, 2011, at 11:47 20PM, Frank Bulk wrote:

> Timely article on the FAA's involvement with sleep schedules:
> http://www.ajc.com/news/air-traffic-controller-scheduling-913244.html
> 	"Union spokesman Doug Church said up to now, 25 percent of 
> 	the nation's air traffic controllers work what he called a 
> 	"2-2-1″ schedule, working afternoon to night the first two 
> 	days, followed by a mandatory minimum of eight hours for 
> 	rest before starting two morning-to-afternoon shifts, 
> 	another eight or more hours for sleep, then a final shift 
> 	starting between 10 p.m. to midnight.
> 
> 	"Maybe we need to work in more time for rest," Church said.
> 	"You’re forcing yourself to work at a time when the body is
> 	used to sleeping."

Also see http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hstTegGafIYTakRavF4WEEPblz-Q?docId=f174db27ddb44dadbcad8419dfe138a7

	"People who change shifts every few days are going to have all
	kinds of problems related to memory and learning, Fishbein said.
	This kind of schedule especially affects what he called
	relational memories, which involve the ability to understand
	how one thing is related to another.

	...

	"Controllers are often scheduled for a week of midnight shifts 
	followed by a week of morning shifts and then a week on swing
	shifts. This pattern, sleep scientists say, interrupts the body's
	natural sleep cycles."

		--Steve Bellovin, https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb