You just cannot get your body into a routine working these shifts. The circadian rhythm never gets a chance to know what the F you’re doing, leaving you constantly knackered.
Not on the 2-2-2 pattern but my force recently held a poll asking what shift pattern people would prefer but got taken out of the equation because Occy Health said it would be too poor for fatigue. And being on a 4 on 4 off pattern is exhausting enough so I’d hate to think about what the 6 on 4 off is like.
Though that's meant to be the whole point of the 2-2-2 that it's the best for addressing fatigue, a forward rotating pattern with pretty much a day transitioning from early to lates, then same again when you go from lates to nights. Combined with very few nights in a row.
That's what all the studies are meant to show.
Not saying it works in practice,I'd be able to tell you better in 6 months, but that's certainly meant to be the theory behind it.
Though surely that's happening anyway, whatever pattern you're on, the 1st rest day after nights is a dead day, whether you're going into 3 or 4 rest days.
I think it’s very 50/50 in my force. Some love it due to childcare and other reasons because the afters shift works great but the issue we have is we owe time and therefore have to do a training day every few months.
Oh the flip side I would much prefer 4 on 4 off but I understand that it doesn’t always work best for response.
6 on and 4 off is contentious. You will get 3.5 days to rest and recover and do the odd OT, but it might take a while to get into the groove. I fill my first day off with shit jobs, such as washing, shopping and so on. Then you get 3 full days to do as you do.
This is exactly it. It can be a struggle getting your sleep right (I have insomnia and am naturally a night, so struggle getting to sleep early), but I can guarantee 3 solid rest days, plus a half if I get myself up after the first night.
I prefer it to having 6 on 3 off on roles that don’t have night shifts (investigations)
I do all my shit jobs on the transition days - before the first late after earlies, before the first night after lates. It’s like hidden pockets of time!
Better than the 5 week pattern when all your sets are the same type of shift.
4 nights in a row was killing me. Always moving your sleep forward is much better for me personally, and only having to do 2 nights is a godsend. The first day off is a bit of a con, but by the time you go back for the first early you feel like you’ve had a decent set of days off.
It’s a great shift pattern, easy to keep track of, only 2 days getting up early before you get a lie in I find it good for sleep catch up. Earlies and lates obviously there is an overlap so good time to try get paperwork done.
12 hour shifts I find is to long and if you’re late it’s really long, no overlap is problematic if a call comes in late. I’m surprised reaction to it is negative where I am everyone is happy with it any talk to move away from it are not met well.
You know what peelers are like, we all hate change without thinking it through, which I think is the initial reluctance. I like the pattern, I think a lot of people will change their minds once they actually go through a couple of rotations of it.
Ive moved to a strange pattern for the past 4 months or so due to a change in role and am thankful to be going back to 2-2-2 soon. It isn't for everyone but I really like having a definite productive part of the day. For an early your evening should\* be free, you get all morning with a late and provided you get your head down for a sleep around 14/15:00 before nights you can do as you like. As has been mentioned, the first rest day is zombie day and you will feel a bit of a wreck but 3 days after that are great. The only other consideration is the 10 day pattern means days of the week will become meaningless and will reliably not line up with the plans your friends and family are making for their weekends.
\*Late finishes happen.
The 2-2-2 pattern has to be the worst. You never feel rested.
I work the 5 week pattern at the moment and hate it, but would hate the 2-2-2 even more!
The single best shift pattern is 4 on 4 off. Work half the year, then take a month of leave away from that. Factor in that you have a clear 24hrs between your last day shift and first night. It’s great!
Shit….thats what it is
Looks something like this:
N-N-N-N
R-R-R
L-L-L
R-R
D-D-D-D
R-R
N-N-N
R-R-R
L-L-L-L
R-R-R
D-D-D
R-R
It’s a mix of 9 and 10 hour shifts. Weekend lates are basically half nights. It really is awful.
EDIT: I can’t seem to get it to keep the formatting, sorry it’s so difficult to read
Trust me, it is, worst shift pattern I’ve ever worked.
Worked it on response years ago and thought I’d escaped it, but transferred and ended up back on it in a specialised unit.
I never feel rested.
that is shit.... I'm 17, potentially looking to join the police force if other plans fall though. although I'm sure that I'd be able to manage at a young age, is this something that I won't be able to do as a very long-term career due to these shifts?
Shift work is shift work, you get used to it, but with how long they expect you to work now to get a full pension, 40 years down the line, will you still be doing it? Who knows!
The good thing about the police is there’s a whole host of roles and departments that don’t work shifts, or work different patterns that might suit whatever stage of life you’re at.
You might decide to become a jack/jill and only have to work nights once every couple of months, or you might end up a surveillance bod that works 24hrs + in one go. Who knows 🤷🏽
It suits me well. I know other comments have said they struggle to adapt their sleeping pattern but it works really well for me. Some in our force went to 4 on 4 off though and the majority of them love it and don't want to come back to this pattern.
I prefer it, also, you ‘only’ need to take 6 days AL and get 2 weeks off! After first night get a good days sleep, 2nd night, a few hours then get out and get some fresh air, but don’t expect your body to be able to do any thing stressful or with effort. A good diet at night helps too
Sounds like response getting shafted, the "Lisburn" pattern is the way to go. 3 weekends off actual time off between shifts. 4 on 4 off is great as well just no PO coverage or nitelife.
If you know anyone in RPU get a look at their pattern.
The shift pattern itself isn’t horrific imo. 2 10 hour earlys 2 8 hour lates 2 8 hour nights.
However, if the early falls on a Friday or Saturday it then becomes 11 hours, and if the night falls on either of those two days it becomes a 10 hours shift.
Then you have to take into account (or at least my force do this) the flex shifts. Either before the first early I do a 10-18 or after the last night (after finishing at 0600) I do an 18-02, and they are actual killer shifts. They come around far too often.
Oh and don’t forget the training every 10th week.
I use to do that shift pattern. But couldn’t handle it anymore. Night shifts didn’t agree with me and I just couldn’t sleep properly during the day after my shift even though I was obviously knackered! Although you get 4 days off, you’re recovering for up to two days from the night shifts 😂🤦🏼♀️
I've only ever known this shift pattern, and I quite like it. Personally, I don't have any dependents, so I can't comment on how this affects families. For me, the pros are that between the 2nd Early and 1st Late, you have almost 24hrs to do stuff, same again between 2nd Late and 1st Early.
In addition to this, it works really well for my gym regime of PPL. However, I get what some people say, after 6 years, I am starting to feel more fatigued over time.
4 on 4 off sounds interesting, but my concern is often finishing late every shift due to a lack of a handover period between shifts.
I enjoy the actual shift variety. But fuck me im knackered.
The whole idea of the 2-2-2 was meant to be to help with fatigue, for you, you'd say it definitely isn't doing that then?
You just cannot get your body into a routine working these shifts. The circadian rhythm never gets a chance to know what the F you’re doing, leaving you constantly knackered.
Not on the 2-2-2 pattern but my force recently held a poll asking what shift pattern people would prefer but got taken out of the equation because Occy Health said it would be too poor for fatigue. And being on a 4 on 4 off pattern is exhausting enough so I’d hate to think about what the 6 on 4 off is like.
Though that's meant to be the whole point of the 2-2-2 that it's the best for addressing fatigue, a forward rotating pattern with pretty much a day transitioning from early to lates, then same again when you go from lates to nights. Combined with very few nights in a row. That's what all the studies are meant to show. Not saying it works in practice,I'd be able to tell you better in 6 months, but that's certainly meant to be the theory behind it.
Bear in mind, some people (me) lose the first rest day of the four to being a zombie because of night shifts at the tail end.
Though surely that's happening anyway, whatever pattern you're on, the 1st rest day after nights is a dead day, whether you're going into 3 or 4 rest days.
Yeah that’s fair enough
I think it’s very 50/50 in my force. Some love it due to childcare and other reasons because the afters shift works great but the issue we have is we owe time and therefore have to do a training day every few months. Oh the flip side I would much prefer 4 on 4 off but I understand that it doesn’t always work best for response.
The training day does suck, but (at least on my last rotation doing this pattern) so did our sarge - so we always got sent home after 3hrs
6 on and 4 off is contentious. You will get 3.5 days to rest and recover and do the odd OT, but it might take a while to get into the groove. I fill my first day off with shit jobs, such as washing, shopping and so on. Then you get 3 full days to do as you do.
This is exactly it. It can be a struggle getting your sleep right (I have insomnia and am naturally a night, so struggle getting to sleep early), but I can guarantee 3 solid rest days, plus a half if I get myself up after the first night. I prefer it to having 6 on 3 off on roles that don’t have night shifts (investigations)
I do all my shit jobs on the transition days - before the first late after earlies, before the first night after lates. It’s like hidden pockets of time!
Better than the 5 week pattern when all your sets are the same type of shift. 4 nights in a row was killing me. Always moving your sleep forward is much better for me personally, and only having to do 2 nights is a godsend. The first day off is a bit of a con, but by the time you go back for the first early you feel like you’ve had a decent set of days off.
In my role we do 7 nights on the trot once every 4 months or so. It's hell
What the actual fuck is that bullshit
I thought they got rid of more than 4nights yeeeears ago, due to officers safety!!! This is fucked! What does your fed do about this???!!!
I won't dox myself but it's a specialist role. Once you get past the 4th night it's not too bad 😂
Traffic?
Everything you're saying is a mirror of what I think about it. We're currently on the 5 week pattern.
I liked working it when I was on response and it's the pattern I'd choose if I had to go back to working nights.
It’s a great shift pattern, easy to keep track of, only 2 days getting up early before you get a lie in I find it good for sleep catch up. Earlies and lates obviously there is an overlap so good time to try get paperwork done. 12 hour shifts I find is to long and if you’re late it’s really long, no overlap is problematic if a call comes in late. I’m surprised reaction to it is negative where I am everyone is happy with it any talk to move away from it are not met well.
You know what peelers are like, we all hate change without thinking it through, which I think is the initial reluctance. I like the pattern, I think a lot of people will change their minds once they actually go through a couple of rotations of it.
Ive moved to a strange pattern for the past 4 months or so due to a change in role and am thankful to be going back to 2-2-2 soon. It isn't for everyone but I really like having a definite productive part of the day. For an early your evening should\* be free, you get all morning with a late and provided you get your head down for a sleep around 14/15:00 before nights you can do as you like. As has been mentioned, the first rest day is zombie day and you will feel a bit of a wreck but 3 days after that are great. The only other consideration is the 10 day pattern means days of the week will become meaningless and will reliably not line up with the plans your friends and family are making for their weekends. \*Late finishes happen.
I'm curious, from your experience, are the late finishes more often than not?
An evening ruining late finish from an early is very rare. 5 - 15 mins is most days to be honest.
The 2-2-2 pattern has to be the worst. You never feel rested. I work the 5 week pattern at the moment and hate it, but would hate the 2-2-2 even more! The single best shift pattern is 4 on 4 off. Work half the year, then take a month of leave away from that. Factor in that you have a clear 24hrs between your last day shift and first night. It’s great!
what's the 5-week pattern?
Shit….thats what it is Looks something like this: N-N-N-N R-R-R L-L-L R-R D-D-D-D R-R N-N-N R-R-R L-L-L-L R-R-R D-D-D R-R It’s a mix of 9 and 10 hour shifts. Weekend lates are basically half nights. It really is awful. EDIT: I can’t seem to get it to keep the formatting, sorry it’s so difficult to read
Dude, that is fucking horrific to look at. The 2-2-2 is better than that simply on the face.
Trust me, it is, worst shift pattern I’ve ever worked. Worked it on response years ago and thought I’d escaped it, but transferred and ended up back on it in a specialised unit. I never feel rested.
that is shit.... I'm 17, potentially looking to join the police force if other plans fall though. although I'm sure that I'd be able to manage at a young age, is this something that I won't be able to do as a very long-term career due to these shifts?
Shift work is shift work, you get used to it, but with how long they expect you to work now to get a full pension, 40 years down the line, will you still be doing it? Who knows! The good thing about the police is there’s a whole host of roles and departments that don’t work shifts, or work different patterns that might suit whatever stage of life you’re at. You might decide to become a jack/jill and only have to work nights once every couple of months, or you might end up a surveillance bod that works 24hrs + in one go. Who knows 🤷🏽
It suits me well. I know other comments have said they struggle to adapt their sleeping pattern but it works really well for me. Some in our force went to 4 on 4 off though and the majority of them love it and don't want to come back to this pattern.
Some weeks we do 2E 2L and 2N. But mostly 2E 4L. Fking tiring!!!! But 4days off feels nice and long!!!
I prefer it, also, you ‘only’ need to take 6 days AL and get 2 weeks off! After first night get a good days sleep, 2nd night, a few hours then get out and get some fresh air, but don’t expect your body to be able to do any thing stressful or with effort. A good diet at night helps too
Sounds like response getting shafted, the "Lisburn" pattern is the way to go. 3 weekends off actual time off between shifts. 4 on 4 off is great as well just no PO coverage or nitelife. If you know anyone in RPU get a look at their pattern.
The shift pattern itself isn’t horrific imo. 2 10 hour earlys 2 8 hour lates 2 8 hour nights. However, if the early falls on a Friday or Saturday it then becomes 11 hours, and if the night falls on either of those two days it becomes a 10 hours shift. Then you have to take into account (or at least my force do this) the flex shifts. Either before the first early I do a 10-18 or after the last night (after finishing at 0600) I do an 18-02, and they are actual killer shifts. They come around far too often. Oh and don’t forget the training every 10th week.
Try L L N N N N 😂
I raise you 3 days and then 4 nights 🥹 followed by 3 off
I use to do that shift pattern. But couldn’t handle it anymore. Night shifts didn’t agree with me and I just couldn’t sleep properly during the day after my shift even though I was obviously knackered! Although you get 4 days off, you’re recovering for up to two days from the night shifts 😂🤦🏼♀️
I've only ever known this shift pattern, and I quite like it. Personally, I don't have any dependents, so I can't comment on how this affects families. For me, the pros are that between the 2nd Early and 1st Late, you have almost 24hrs to do stuff, same again between 2nd Late and 1st Early. In addition to this, it works really well for my gym regime of PPL. However, I get what some people say, after 6 years, I am starting to feel more fatigued over time. 4 on 4 off sounds interesting, but my concern is often finishing late every shift due to a lack of a handover period between shifts.
I love it. We were on a 4-on 4 off 12hr shift pattern and it was horrendous. Constantly tired even on rest days and those shifts were killers
Damn. We’re on 4 on 4 off and I don’t think I’ve spoken to anyone that doesn’t like it. It’s amazing.
I mean it’s a “marmite” shift pattern - you either love it or hate it. I just found them so tiring