Shift Work Schedule

Shift Work

            Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have introduced a unique human factors challenge to the Air Force community. UAS crews like those who fly the MQ-1B operate in the “deployed” environment from the security of the United States borders. While manned aircraft operators deploy for a period of time and return to home station for rest and relaxation, UAS crews “deploy” for 8 hours on a work day and come home to their families afterwards. In most manned and unmanned aircraft communities, scheduling shops take into account a regulation mandated 12-hour crew rest period before the flying period. With this in mind, alert and duty day are also constraints provided by current regulations. UAS operators function under a different set of requirements in the operational structure and therefore need a different set of scheduling parameters mostly due to not being collocated with their aircraft. In a study on MQ-1 operators done by the Naval Postgraduate School, the researchers note that one inevitable consequence of shift work is the increase in circadian rhythm issues (Tvaryanas, Platte, Swigart, Colebank, Miller, 2008). Crewmember fatigue becomes a chronic issue when operating on shift schedules for months at a time. A predictable work shift schedule can provide some tools for mitigating chronic fatigue and reduce the amount of mishaps (Dart, 2005). To alleviate this chronic fatigue, shift scheduling must meet operation requirements while simultaneously avoiding pilot “burn out.” 

           

Current Schedule

             The current shift schedule operates off of a four team, 6 on/2 off clockwise day/swing/night rotation (Table 1). Days are from 7:30AM to 4:00PM, Swing is from 3:30AM to 12:00PM, and Night is from 11:30PM to 8:00AM. The current schedule allows for 24 hour coverage of operations and crews are expected to man office duties after their flying day ends. However, this only allows for two days off to reset their circadian rhythm.   

Revised Schedule

            The revised schedule operates off of a five team, 6 on/3 off clockwise day/swing/night rotation (Table 2). Shift times are the same as the current schedule with an added office block shift for Team 5. On the days where there is no team to run office duties, the working teams will split amongst themselves the office work. The revised schedule allows for 24 hour operations coverage but assume five teams instead of four. The intention of adding a fifth team is that every team with will get a respite from normal flying shift work every five months. If this becomes a problem adding more teams would be advisable. Addition of an extra day off will create a more sustainable outcome – increasing safety and efficiency – for the shift workers.

Pros and Cons

             The current schedule outlined by a four team, 6 on/2 off clockwise rotation of day, swing, and night allows for coverage 24 hours of every day. However, it does not allow for much time off to recover and switch schedules. This schedule may work for a few months, but without the change out in personnel, chronic fatigue could easily become an issue. To alleviate this, a fifth team was added to the schedule to allow for three days off in between shift changes. While the revised schedule does cover 24 hour operations, it assumes that there are enough operators to man another team. Another issue with the revised schedule is that when Team 5 is off or flying, the other teams have to cover office duties. Of course, in the current schedule, teams were sharing office duties anyway.

References

Dart, T.S. (2005). Application of Shift Work Scheduling Principles and Tools for Optimizing      Console Based Operations. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org /e38a/0994cfce7df3d2f742bda4a1c0cc24e5e7bd.pdf

Tvaryanas, A.P., Platte, W., Swigart, C., Colebank, J., & Miller, N.L., (2008). A Resurvey of Shift Work Related Fatigue in MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aircraft System Crewmembers. Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School. Retrieved from http://calhoun.nps.edu /bitstream/handle/10945/759/NPS-OR-08-001.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

                                                                        Appendix 

Table 1. Current Schedule

                                                            Table 2. Revised Schedule