So I'm sort of lucky to have a dad who works the night shift at BMW Plant Oxford. Though he didn't want to be recorded at all, he was willing to be interviewed for the project. So even though it's not much, and it's nothing 'official' (so isn't exactly formal) here it is!
ME: So I’m just doing a project on sleep and the
24/7 society and would like to ask of your experiences as a BMW shift worker.
DAD: OK, yeah.
ME: What do you think of the night shift at BMW
Oxford?
DAD: Everybody hates it. But you have to
do it.
ME: So everyone
has to?
DAD: Some people can get permanent days but to do
that you need to either apply for it, which rarely gets you anywhere, or have 2
people willing to the two other shifts for you, which again isn’t easy because
if anything people want permanent days like you do.
ME: Why do you work at BMW?
DAD: Money. Good money.
ME: Ok, and what is your job in the factory?
DAD: I take the cars from the
factory and ready them for delivery. One of the luckiest jobs in the factory
because we actually get fresh air.
ME: What is the night shift like for you?
DAD: Well like I said no one likes it because they
have to leave home at 8:30pm whilst their families are settling down for the
evening, and off they have to go for work at 9 O’clock. You can’t really settle
like everyone else can, because in a way your day is just beginning.
ME: What time does the night shift finish?
DAD: Half-four
ME: OK, does the factory operate at night like it
does during the day?
DAD: Yep, just the same.
ME: So it never switches off?
DAD: No
ME: Ok, how does the night shift affect your
sleep? How do the shift changes affect your sleep?
DAD: Not that well. When we finish at 4:30am we
get home at 5am, but then my family are getting up about an hour or so later so that can sometimes wake you. Also in the summer when the
light shines through the curtains it can make it harder to fall asleep, but it’s not too bad. Worse are the shift changes though because you never
settle with the routine.
ME: Have you ever had health problems related to
your shift work?
DAD: No, not me, but I know people who have. They
can’t sleep at all sometimes because their bodies aren’t adjusted to sleeping
at certain times or whatever. But luckily I haven’t.
ME: What do you think of night shifts in general?
DAD: Necessary sometimes because how would a
factory like BMW Mini supply for the demand? Also, they’re OK for some people.
If you need to take your kids anywhere or whatever during the day you can do
it. And there are some who do permanent nights who enjoy it
because it fits their routine nicely, or they just prefer it that way or
whatever.
ME: Is there anything you would change about the night shift at all?
DAD: Well I'd keep it the same, only I'd get rid of 3 shifts entirely. If everyone could operate on a single shift then that would be good, but the problem is fewer people will want the night shift. So I suppose the best option would be to change the times- so go back to the old system of working 12 hours but only switching 2 shifts, maybe. But the workers voted for these shifts over the other systems, so...
ME: OK, thanks dad!
DAD: Right...
END
You have kept it secret that your Dad works night shifts! This is very informative, loved reading it :).
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, thanks Jody...
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I worked night-shifts for 3 weeks when I was auditing my Homebase stores stocks - I loved it! Not for everyone though..
ReplyDeleteThat's ok, and yes definitely kept this one up my sleeve, my plan was to surprise everyone with a last minute burst of happiness. It's a shame it wasn't recorded though, or even voice recorded. And Kris why did you love the night shifts? Was it so you had the day to do what you wanted?
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely a night-person, cannot stand waking up during the day. I guess I saw it as a challenge, there was a month where I was working in 60-70 hour weeks but I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough Kreitzman talks about BMW and how they are reducing the amount of hours shift workers do in order to increase efficiency and help workers.
That's actually true, they used to work 12 hours straight and did one week nights one week days, but only in recent months have they changed to a system where they work around approx 8 hours, only over 3 shifts so one week they work from around 5:30am til lunch time, another week they do afternoon and early evening and the final week it's pretty much all night.
ReplyDelete