Well, there might be a good reason for your feelings...

From the Associated Press:

Graveyard Shift Work Linked to Cancer

"LONDON (AP) — Like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes, working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a "probable" cause of cancer.

It is a surprising step validating a concept once considered wacky. And it is based on research that finds higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose work day starts after dark.

Next month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, will add overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen."

Read the rest of the article here.

Hopefully, the VA will take this seriously when considering disability ratings for those of us who spent much of our careers as military communicators and operators standing 12 hour midwatches.

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working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a "probable" cause of cancer.

Then the VA will "Probable" give up benefits!!

As a person who worked as many mids as possible while in the CG, and who worked almost steady mids for 14 years for the airlines, This doesn't sound good (as if I didn't have enough problems!).

OTOH, the article says...

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"The problem is re-setting your body's clock," said Aaron Blair, of the United States' National Cancer Institute, who chaired IARC's recent meeting on shift work. "If you worked at night and stayed on it, that would be less disruptive than constantly changing shifts."

I always felt that rotating watches were the worst system.

...gjd

I might take cancer over dealing with certain CG LT's while working during the day. I know I would have at my last duty station! You can fight cancer, tyring to work with said LT is impossible to do!!!

I don't miss her!

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Originally posted by semperparatus81:
I might take cancer over dealing with certain CG LT's while working during the day. I know I would have at my last duty station! You can fight cancer, tyring to work with said LT is impossible to do!!!

I don't miss her!

Haha this was a funny post

It's funny now, but it was H**L at the time. That LT was worthless, and what made it even better was the command knew it.

Didn't see her name on the LCDR message this year, and probably never will.

Im not so sure that working nights could give you cancer, but rotating shifts are very bad, not only dose it change your sleeping habits but also your eating habits. I have been standing 12 hour watches for 6 years. I find it very difficult to stay in shape and feel healthy. Why can’t commands do one month of mids and one month of days, or how about 1200 to 2400 and 2400 to 1200 instead of 0600 to 1800 and 1800 to 0600. Anything would be better then day/night

The CG doesn't care about its enlisted people or their opinions. It doesn't matter what statistics, facts or opinions are. Do what you're told

If I could work nothing but midwatches for the rest of my career, I would be happy

My body just naturally wants to stay up all night and sleep all day.

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The CG doesn't care about its enlisted people or their opinions. It doesn't matter what statistics, facts or opinions are. Do what you're told

I wouldn't agree with that statement, but sometimes it does seem to lean towards it. I mean really, we have had tons of surveys and they all state that what we are doing is very unhealty. Would like to know why the manuel states that 12 hour watches should be a last resort. For 8 years at three different Groups/Sectors, all I have ever seen is 12 hour watches for the watch floor. Seems to me if the manuel states 12's are last resort the CG would do something to help it's people. AS IN CREATE MORE BILLETS at almost every unit.
I know alot of salty guys out there are gonna reply and say, I stood 12's for 30 years and I am alright, I applaud you. I also think change can be a good thing instead of saying that's the way we've always done it as an answer to everything. That statement to me is like saying, lets not make it mandatory to wear seat belts, until someone fly's through a windshield. Can't tell you how many times I drive home and can't remember it, or drive to work and think holy crap, I bearly remember driving here. Seems like only a matter of time till someone gets seriously hurt.
What would be the CG's solution be then? Lets see, you can't drink 12 hours before watch, hummm, lets make a new rule saying you have to have 10 hours of sleep before you stand a last resort 12 hour watch for the next 4 years that you are here.
Only real solution I can see is create more billets, which would mean the CG has to get money from some where, which I am sure we all know how that goes... Or higher so many Civilians, I get to stand 8 hour watches with Bob, Joe, Tom, Dick and Hairy!

Just my two cents, spend it how you want to.

I would like to add to my last statement. Currently at my unit the top qualified people are rewarded with 8 hour watches, when it's possible, for the last two months I have had the opertunity to stand some 8 hour watches, pending not one person takes any leave we are fortunate enough to have enough people to stand 8 hour watches. Got to say it is bliss. When we are on 8's, I feel totally refreshed and come to work ready to rock an roll on anything that might happen. I feel as supervisors and responsible petty officers and leaders of the Coast Guard, it is up to us to try and make changes.

There's another two cents at this rate I am gonna end up broke!!

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Originally posted by sillybeep:
Seems like only a matter of time till someone gets seriously hurt.

It has already happened. Reference CAMSLANT. According to a friend of mine, an IT has died and an OS killed someone after a watch. Both were on "the watch". I wouldn't blame them, only the folks that create their schedule. I'm fortunate as a YN. If I ever get stationed there, no watches for me. I feel for the rest, though.

Up to about 1975, 8 hour watches were standard for RMs. At that time, a lot of RMs got out having fulfilled their obligated 4 years. Many were not replaced as some wizkid at CGHQ brought up the "doing more with less" concept and as such, the 12 hour watch rotation was adopted.

At first, we were doing 3 watch rotations with 72s and 96s in between watch periods. After receiving a lot of complaints, largely from day weenies (day workers) concerning the 96 hour liberty, the rotation routine was changed to 2 12 hour watches with 48 & 72 hour liberties in between.

Both were essiently circadian rythem killers. Changing both sleep and eating patterns every 2 days was NOT good for the system. When the Coast Guard weight control program came out in the early 80s, no consideration was made for those of us who stood these rotating watches. Only response from upper leadership was the tired old "choose your rate(ing), choose your fate".

Another killer was the requirement to show up, after a 12 hour mid-watch, for the monthly personnel inspection and other all-hands meetings. That was not necessarily the case when the radio station COs and XOs were CWO(COMM), all who had been there & done that. When the Coast Guard Telecommunications system expanded in the late 70s, Line Officers took command of the COMMSTAS and eventially the CAMS. There were no longer special provisions made for watch standers. If you've ever fallen asleep standing at parade rest during a PI following a 12 mid-watch, you'll know from where I come from in this.

Upper level management never really showed interest in improving the way watches were scheduled. The old catch-all, "this is the way it's always been done..." was mentioned above but was used 30 years ago. Somethings never change. Some of us wanted to try to adapt the FAA's watch rotation schedule for air traffic controllers which would have put personnel on one of three watches (day, eve, mid) 8 hour rotations for a month or so, at least providing some bodily continuity. But Coast Guard leadership was again indifferent to any change or improvements.

In the end, it goes to that old Coast Guard saying, "you have to go out but you don't have to come back.

(You don't have to like it either)

When the Radioman rating was still in existance, it wasn't uncommon to read the TAPS pages of the Coast Guard Retiree magazine (now known as "Evening Colors") and notice that most of the persons listed were RMs who had retired within the last 10 years. At the time, the Radioman Rating had the highest mortality rate of recent retirees.

It would be interesting if the Coast Guard designed and excuted a survey of the health, both physical and mental, of retirees with increments of 5, 10, 20 and 30 years following the actual retirement itself, using a sampling of all the Enlisted ratings and then compare mortality rates and other health factors.

By the interest of disclosure, I myself am a cancer surviver having had small tumors on my lungs (I never smoked), groin area and skin. I was told by my oncologist at the time that the groin tumors MIGHT be relatted to the position of the final PAs of our shipboard HF transmitters on all three ships I was on - about a foot and a half away from the operator's groin area when seatted in the operator's position. The doctor also speculates that the spots on my lungs MIGHT have been from second hand smoke. Before Admiral Yost banned smoking from all inside spaces on Coast Guard property, a good majority of RMs smoked - largely to releave the stress of the job.

One final thing, it would benefit you in the future, especially if you need to file a disability claim with the VA, if you would write a concise narritive of all your duty stations listing the all the environmental conditions such as noise levels, exposure to chemicals, adaquecy (or lack of) of ventilation & etc. As Coast Guard communicators, you of all persons should know the importance of documentation. If it ain't in writing, "it never happened".

Hopefully, the Coast Guard has leadership and management that is more broad minded toward matters of physical and mental health than those of the past. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Believe me, I know.

mw

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According to a friend of mine, an IT has died and an OS killed someone after a watch.

How were these deaths attributable to standing 12 hour watches?

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Originally posted by Ex_CG_GM:

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According to a friend of mine, an IT has died and an OS killed someone after a watch.

How were these deaths attributable to standing 12 hour watches?

Never mind. I guess it was only a coincidence that they both happened right after and between 12 hr watches.

Was it a car wreck?

Yes, both were.

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Never mind. I guess it was only a coincidence that they both happened right after and between 12 hr watches.

I wasn't challenging your statement, I was not familiar with the incidents.

I have heard of others getting into car accidents after mid watches. Yes working rotating shifts is unhealthy. It can increase risks of cancer, causes sleep apnea and other issues at home and at work. I do believe there are ways of finding a healthy way of doing the 12 hour shifts. Why not do a month of mids a month of days? why bc it would put others out in having to GOD forbid track you down and pass information off to you, or who knows what else.I understand that being an OS you are 24/7, 12 hour shifts. That is the nature of the beast as people say. So we do it and get the job dont thensome, but why not make your workers happy? Why not look out for their wellbeing?????? Sometimes i feel people look at things in the manner of "IF I STOOD 12 hour shift work of days and mids so CAN THEY" But I would think that OUR SPVR's would want to break that thinking. Maybe someday someone will stand up and SPEAK UP FOR THE Litlle People......... We have had sleep study discussions at my unit and very LITTLE has been done......... I would think that you would want ot make your people happy.......... Happy people will Love to work and wont be soooooooo tired and make errors....... I know that i feel when I sleep, it harder to fall asleep, and I never feel like i hit all the sleep cycles. All we can do is keep bringing it up to the command. Prove to them that being on even maybe 2 weeks of mids 2 weeks of days COULD work....... That way your body is not on a Rollercoaster. ok everyone gotta go to sleep now. LOL

I was at camslant when the two car accidents took place, and I don’t believe the IT was a watch stander. The OS was. I had problems making it to work and home some days because the drive is so far. It’s a lot like camspac, kind of in the middle of no-where.

We can complain about this all we wont, it will never change, watch standers will continue to be over weight, tired and very unhealthy and no one will ever care. It will always be the watch standers fault.

What bothers me the most is that if all of the training, personnel inspections and mandatory medical/dental appointments that we have to go to were in the middle of the night, no day worker would ever show up.

The watch rotation is the only reason I do not want to do this any longer.