Longest work shift

Icemancometh · 14-12-2014 01:45AM

EoghanIRL wrote: »

There is no way you can be working efficiently in a clinic environment after a 50 hour shift.

I went on the picket over it.

Joe Doe · 14-12-2014 02:30AM

10 days is nonsense, sure hundreds of folks passed away just from a few days of missing sleep in China from watching the last world cup live matches (time zone differences).
Hallucinations and delirium would likely set in after a few days of non-sleep & constant activity. There was a lab documentary done about it not so long ago, not good findings.

Longest was 22.5hrs with just two 30mins breaks, every month as Art Ed' of magazine (final ad/layout flight-checking and disk transfer of publish-ready handover to printers).
Later did a few straight x7 continuous 14hr days coding in London for a tech co, people started walking into door frames and walls towards the end of Sunday night.

Have since read up on Ferris's '4hr work-week' principles.

polydactyl · 14-12-2014 02:33AM

swpb wrote: »

currently working 24 x 7 for the last 6 years................i'm a mother

God I must be doing 48x7 so cause I am a mother and a junior doctor

Littlekittylou · 14-12-2014 02:37AM

After reading this thread I am going to be very careful about how tired my Dr looks if I ever need to go to a hospital.

polydactyl · 14-12-2014 02:38AM

Littlekittylou wrote: »

After reading this thread I am going to be very careful about how tired my Dr looks if I ever need to go to a hospital.

That's a very wise idea

in fact as part of the strike last year we were encouraging patients to ask to highlight the problem as the she would have you believe that it's all sorted.

Jentle Grenade · 14-12-2014 02:43AM

NCHD working hours are frightening. My gf regularly works 50+ hour shifts and calls me to collect her as she's afraid to drive home (too tired to drive but not to attend to sick people!).

Littlekittylou · 14-12-2014 04:18AM

polydactyl wrote: »

That's a very wise idea in fact as part of the strike last year we were encouraging patients to ask to highlight the problem as the she would have you believe that it's all sorted.

Any evening Marches you have and I can make it I will. Any online campaigns I will will highlight and write to my local TD.

Not kidding about that I am a very proactive individual

Littlekittylou · 14-12-2014 04:21AM

Jentle Grenade wrote: »

NCHD working hours are frightening. My gf regularly works 50+ hour shifts and calls me to collect her as she's afraid to drive home (too tired to drive but not to attend to sick people!).

It is frightening.

And also very harmful to her and her well being.

The noble profession should be treated as such. Such working conditions are unfair and wrong.

HSE takes the piss with nurses and Drs.

SIRREX · 14-12-2014 04:25AM

allthedoyles wrote: »

whatever happened to the organisation of working time act 1997

Afraid the Defence forces are exempt from this legislation, they regularly do 24hr duties, not including travel time from their own Barracks to the one they are on duty in. I know several lads who would do these duties and then face 150km drive home. In my youth I often did three 24hr duties, day on day off, and you would be punch drunk half way through the second one.

Streetwalker · 14-12-2014 10:55AM

Gringo180 wrote: »

You said it. Some people take there work too serious and are like robots. There should be no need to work more than 45-50 hours a week and thats even pushing it a bit.

Haven't done over 40 hours of work in a week since 2007 when my daughter was born. The last 7 years with her have been an amazing experience which I wouldn't have had time for if I took my work life as serious as some do. Yeah we have a small house and my car is a 2005 yoke but I could care less. Like I said work is way done my list of priorities nobody lay on their deathbed wishing they'd spent more time in the office.

HIB · 14-12-2014 10:59AM

K4t wrote: »

Worked in a hotel for years so I'm accustomed to insane shifts but a lot of the posters here seem almost proud of being exploited, someone mentioned Stockholm syndrome and they're not far off.

However, there is a huge difference between working crazy hours in a relatively well paid job you like and a job you dislike or for minimum wage. This is very important here.

That's pretty true. People like being martyrs. Although, if you're in the right environment, hard hard work can be so rewarding. I've seen both ends.

As a sec school/college student, used to work 7 days a week, 16+ hrs a day for a few weeks at a time, at 2-3 busy times of the year. It was a family run company, the bosses were fantastic, really appreciative of the effort. I was paid overtime for all my hours, got a genuine heartfelt 'thank you' at the end of it, and to be honest, I really enjoyed it. The sense of camaraderie was something I've never even come close to experiencing since. One of those genuine 'we were all one big happy family' situations.

As an adult, I've worked 100+ hr weeks for a company that simply saw us as extra pairs of unpaid hands. Salaried employees who could be used and abused, and when times got tough, handed their p45s. I even heard myself being referred to in meetings as a 'resource' while managerial levels were referred to as 'talent'. All I was short was a number stamped on my arm really. In a situation like that, its hard to be anything but unyieldingly cynical.

Highflyer13 · 14-12-2014 11:07AM

Venus In Furs wrote: »

I know a guy who did hotel management for years and the hours he worked were just madness. He was well into it though - wanted to make a career of it. He runs a business in the industry now (co-owns a bar) and is doing really well. I think it's people who want to make a killing in business who can often be ok with such tough conditions. It's like they need to be pushed to their limits. I guess that's what it takes to make a business work.

This. Im 27 and when im not in college I will work extra hours on 6 bits of project work im doing. My goal is to successfully roll out the projects into live operations successfully. People think im crazy working extra hours but there is method to the madness. Hopefully some day when I am mid thirties I can set up my own company and work 6 hr days as a project manager from home and spend more time with family while giving them and me a comfortable life.

In the mean time, I am young so going to work as hard as I can to build my CV, LinkedIn and Networks so that I can have an more relaxed life later.Thats my goal anyway.

Daisy03 · 14-12-2014 11:24AM

seventeen sheep wrote: »

Yep, how did you guess!

And if anyone dared question their overtime not being approved, the managers would get all nasty and tell them that if they were efficient enough, they would be able to get their job done within working hours with no overtime. But if you ever did ... you'd only have more work piled on you ... so you'd still end up working overtime anyways! The more efficient you were, and the more work you got done in a ridiculously short space of time, the more work was heaped on you. So you'd never get out of working the overtime anyways!

I escaped and am working in industry now. Out the door at 5.30 on the dot, and the working day feels so short to me now!

Call it a hunch... As soon as you mentioned leave in lieu I knew

Efficiency is still the buzzword. What I hate is the expectation that we have no lives. Managers often don't think twice about dropping something on your desk at 5.30 and say it has to be done by tomorrow when it would easily take all night to do. They then swan out of the office a few minutes later.

I have one busy season left and then I am finished! The dream of industry is what keeps me going.

harry Bailey esq · 14-12-2014 02:15PM

Not me,but ive a few mates working as fishermen. Those lads often do shifts of 24 hours and upwards

suicide_circus · 14-12-2014 02:21PM

I worked 17 hours without a break once, ate while working and was on the phone while in the jacks.

fasttalkerchat · 14-12-2014 03:28PM

Littlekittylou wrote: »

It is frightening.

And also very harmful to her and her well being.

The noble profession should be treated as such. Such working conditions are unfair and wrong.

HSE takes the piss with nurses and Drs.

I don't think its about being forced to work more, doctors make silly money, they could easily offer to take a pay cut in exchange for no overtime.
I think its more about getting a certain number of hours experience, particularly for junior doctors.

Wompa1 · 14-12-2014 03:31PM

Longest single shift with no break was about 20 hours.

Longest I went without a day off was about 3.5 months.

Assuming we're talking about jobs that are 'shift' work type jobs. Working full time salary in IT. Have worked a lot longer without days off in my IT jobs but it's not as physically taxing, so it's less impressive

polydactyl · 14-12-2014 03:58PM

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I don't think its about being forced to work more, doctors make silly money, they could easily offer to take a pay cut in exchange for no overtime.
I think its more about getting a certain number of hours experience, particularly for junior doctors.

You obv have no idea in reality. Junior docs only earn biggish wages due to the ridiculous number of hours they work. The strike last year we were begging to work less hours and therefore take a wage cut but have more if a life and be safer for patients but the HSE has not allowed it. It's people like you who actually believe what the HSE spin ppl say about the hours we work that makes it even harder to change to be honest. An intern salary is 31938 for standard hours week. Not the 100000 the HSE would have you believe. We could easily get enough training with 48 hours a week if it was done properly. No need for the 100 plus we sometimes are forced to work to keep the service running.

Venus In Furs · 14-12-2014 08:14PM

polydactyl wrote: »

You obv have no idea in reality. Junior docs only earn biggish wages due to the ridiculous number of hours they work. The strike last year we were begging to work less hours and therefore take a wage cut but have more if a life and be safer for patients but the HSE has not allowed it. It's people like you who actually believe what the HSE spin ppl say about the hours we work that makes it even harder to change to be honest. An intern salary is 31938 for standard hours week. Not the 100000 the HSE would have you believe. We could easily get enough training with 48 hours a week if it was done properly. No need for the 100 plus we sometimes are forced to work to keep the service running.

And apparently ye cover up your mistakes - especially in Ireland.

Venus In Furs · 14-12-2014 08:39PM

HandsomeDan wrote: »

The lads braggin about mental hours are sad fúcks to be honest.

Are you that weedy that you can't tell an abusive employer (who's laughin all the way to the bank btw) to go fúck themselves?

A question was asked by the opening post - people answered it. Where's the bragging?
Interesting too the way you blame the employee rather than the employer who's taking the piss. Things aren't always as straightforward as what you suggest, particularly in client-facing jobs. And some people have to do jobs with extreme physical/time demands (the most prominent one being doctors) - good for you that you don't; I don't either.
It is a fact that junior doctors have to work for shifts that last three or four days - that's just reality; I'm sure if they could just stop doing so like you suggest, they would.

Streetwalker wrote: »

Haven't done over 40 hours of work in a week since 2007 when my daughter was born. The last 7 years with her have been an amazing experience which I wouldn't have had time for if I took my work life as serious as some do. Yeah we have a small house and my car is a 2005 yoke but I could care less. Like I said work is way done my list of priorities nobody lay on their deathbed wishing they'd spent more time in the office.

Good stuff on the self congratulation. Why are you pretending that people always have a choice? People need to earn a wage, particularly if they have children, and not every line of work involves a maximum of 40 hours per week. It's not always for greed, it's their job requirement. I doubt they want to be doing such crazy hours.

RDM_83 again · 14-12-2014 10:00PM

polydactyl wrote: »

You obv have no idea in reality. Junior docs only earn biggish wages due to the ridiculous number of hours they work. The strike last year we were begging to work less hours and therefore take a wage cut but have more if a life and be safer for patients but the HSE has not allowed it. It's people like you who actually believe what the HSE spin ppl say about the hours we work that makes it even harder to change to be honest. An intern salary is 31938 for standard hours week. Not the 100000 the HSE would have you believe. We could easily get enough training with 48 hours a week if it was done properly. No need for the 100 plus we sometimes are forced to work to keep the service running.

I've a question that reflects the cynic in me. I know this has been an issue for years but if its actually all about the patient safety as its often portrayed, why is it that the issue has only came to a head since the HSE have became worse about paying over time? If its about the patients why wasn't there these strikes in the celtic tiger years when there was tons of money around to solve the problem, I know there was threats back then but I don't think there was ever any carry through with them?

Quazzie · 14-12-2014 10:05PM

Frosty McSnowballs wrote: »

It was a once off, your body is an amazing machine.

Bullshit.

World record is 11 days and 8-10 days has only ever been achieved in controlled experimental environments.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-long-can-humans-stay/

c_man · 14-12-2014 10:09PM

Longest I did was from 10 a.m. til 2 a.m. in a bar with a 20 minute break. It was some particularly busy day. When I think of how much the boss was raking in then compared with the miserly pay she gave us :mad:

polydactyl · 14-12-2014 11:11PM

RDM_83 again wrote: »

I've a question that reflects the cynic in me. I know this has been an issue for years but if its actually all about the patient safety as its often portrayed, why is it that the issue has only came to a head since the HSE have became worse about paying over time? If its about the patients why wasn't there these strikes in the celtic tiger years when there was tons of money around to solve the problem, I know there was threats back then but I don't think there was ever any carry through with them?

Fair enough question to be honest. The honest answer is that our union was/is really really weak for many reasons mainly that in the past you were basically told "doctors don't strike" end of conversation. The threats from our consultant colleagues about how they would seriously frown on it enough to refuse to sign off on our training and effectively ruin our careers was very very serous. It took a good few years for enough of those dinosaurs to retire and be replaced so that the threat lessened enough that NCHDs became brave (and exhausted enough) to finally stand up to the bullying effectively.

tightropetom · 14-12-2014 11:22PM

beks101 wrote: »

I started work at 7.30am Friday morning.
I've been on-shift for 18 hours.
That's 18 hours with no lunch break, one coffee break where I got pulled back to my desk because of another work crisis, and two toilet breaks.
I need sugar, alcohol, sleep and to punch a wall very hard.

What's the longest shift you've ever worked and why?

56 hours - went to work in UCHG (or whatever they call it nowadays) at 9am on Saturday morning, left on Monday at 5pm. Barely any sleep, couldn't leave, crap canteen food, lots of vending machine stuff, running around like a blue arsed fly. And that was only a few years ago.

Euch...

Longest week I ever worked was 112 hours in 2002.

SusieBlue · 14-12-2014 11:59PM

The longest shift I regularly work (twice a week) is 20 hours. It would be much much easier if it wasn't a split shift. I work 7am-6pm and then back in from 8pm-5am. I don't sleep in between my nightshift and my morning shift as I'm always too afraid I'll oversleep and be late for work. I take a 90min nap in between by day shift and night shift and that does me for the 2 days. So I basically don't have longer than 3 hours off at a time over the space of two and a half days.

By the end of the second day I'm lethargic, fatigued, blurred vision, nauseous and my back will have seized up from standing up for so long (hospitality industry). The rest of the week I only work 8 hour shifts so having to do it for two days isn't the worst but by the end of it I can't even walk properly I'm so tired.

Don't know how people do longer shifts. I was once so exhausted after finishing my final nightshift of the week that I couldn't understand why the keypad on my phone wasn't working as I was trying to ring a taxi home. I was literally going beserk because the phone wouldn't make the call, when my colleague helpfully pointed out that I had typed the number into the calculator. Then I knew it was time for bed

PandyAndy · 15-12-2014 12:11AM

The longest shift I ever did was... 8.5hrs

This included a 30min break and two 15 min breaks, as well as an extra 15 minutes that could be taken throughout the day. A supervisor asked me to do overtime one day and I laughed and said no. In the five years I worked there I've never once done overtime.

PLL · 15-12-2014 06:16AM

ringadingding wrote: »

Work in a kitchen, 2 x 16 hour shifts a week,
3 x 9 hour shifts.

A 9 hour shift seems almost like part time these days.

It's all in the mind In my opionin, but I see other chefs walk into work already defeated by the thoughts of it, and they never last the pace.

As I'm getting older though, the shifts are getting tougher.

For various reasons, my last time off that was longer than two days off together was this week last year.
I have my full 25 days hols and about 40 days in lieu owed for this year.

My oh is a chef. 8am til midnight at weekends and 11am till midnight any other days. But he lives for it and the only time he would give out about it is when other people ask about the hours he works.

I've heard lots of amusing stories about commis coming in thinking chefing is easy 'It's just cooking' bull**** and haven't lasted the week.

PLL · 15-12-2014 06:26AM

polydactyl wrote: »

God I must be doing 48x7 so cause I am a mother and a junior doctor

Great reply. Much respect.

Stay at home mom is a breeze compared to working mom.

con___manx1 · 15-12-2014 06:52AM

Once did a night shift in one job followed by a day shift In another. 16 hours in total.

Longest work shift

Comments