Using Graphs to Evaluate the Impact of Work Shifts: An Experimental Investigation

Abstract

When scheduling work times, detailed information is often not considered regarding the shiftwork history of a worker. Instead, available workers may be chosen according to factors such as seniority and/or work hours over the previous day or two. This can be a dangerous practice, as it may result in irregular, erratic, and unpredictable shift schedules that can lead to serious health and safety consequences for the worker and the public. The current research addressed these concerns by asking judges to consider both the acute and chronic impact of work schedules. Individuals evaluated graphical representations of 30 days of freight train engineer schedules for their impact on worker well-being. While judges' evaluations were in agreement with each other, their judgments were not related to engineer mood estimates of their own well-being. It is, of course, possible that predictions of well-being would be more accurate if the judges were provided with additional specific information about each worker.