Increase Productivity and Safety at Night Shift Research Proposal

Increase Productivity and Safety at Night Shift - Research Proposal Example Production department is the most important section for the successful operation of the business. Business organizations strive on the efficiency and capability of its production team who provide quality and quantity goods and services to the customers of organization. As the demands for the products grow in numbers, it has become necessary for the organizations to operate 24/7 and employ more number of people so that the market demand could be met easily. As Coleman (1995) pointed out that businesses can run 24 hours for various reasons which includes customers demand, can be considered as the most economical option or the process requires it. Even in organizations where the operations run on continuous basis without switching the process, the workload is balanced in every shift so as to increase the efficiency of processing during the night hours. Working on the night shifts is more difficult than the day shift. This is because there is the issue of fatigue and loss of concentratio n that affect quality. Aside this, there are also safety issues that relate to concerns about going to work, staying safe at work and going back home from work, if one is on the night shift. The present research proposes to conduct an intensive study into the measures and facilities that could be improved and developed to increase the safety and production capacity during night shifts Statement of the Problem Why there is a need to study the ill effects of working during night shifts; is a critical and serious question. ... Also, Thorpy & Billiard (2011, p412) identified that many motor accidents that occur before daybreak can be attributed to tired drivers who have worked through the night. In view of these risks associated with night shifts and it’s continuance in manufacturing industries in spite of so many tragic incidents, it is clear that maintaining a night shift enables a manufacturing company to do more and increase production volumes. It is therefore an important element of organizations and must be kept as productive as the daytime shift. The research therefore examines the issues with safety, security and productivity with the night shift and how these issues can be handled by management of a manufacturing entity. Problems with the Night Shift Demand for increased production due to global competition and just in time manufacturing methods have forced most of the companies to adopt 24 hours working schedule in order to stay economically active and meet the consumer demand. Operating in dustrial processes around the clock forces the employees to remain awake at night contrary to their normal biological rhythms resulting in increased fatigue and reduced alertness and productivity (Gupta, 2006). According to Sharman and Sharman (2008) working during night time upsets the body’s natural process and health effects go far beyond sleep deprivation, decreased concentration, creativity short term memory and decision making ability. According to Folkard and Tucker (2003) the number of people at work and nature of their work vary across shifts as long runs were often saved for night shift with reduced supervision of operations. It is further analyzed on the basis of three different studies on real job measures for 24 hour day operated organization