Working in a Minnesota warehouse places a serious strain on your body. The demanding and physical nature of the work means you face a high risk of experiencing a work-related injury. The fact that some warehouse employers are forcing their workers to work long, grueling overnight shifts is only compounding the dangers you face in your line of work.
According to Vice, one of the nation’s largest warehouse employers recently began requiring its employees to work “megacycle” shifts, which are 10.5-hour shifts during overnight hours. How might these long, brutal shifts impact your health and increase your injury risks?
More injuries
In most work environments, warehouse workers spend between about four and eight hours a day either picking items for distribution to customers or packing boxes set to go out. Transitioning from, at most, eight hours of physical labor a day to 10 places a serious strain on employees, and it also places you at a much higher risk of a work-related injury. Research also shows that the warehouse employer that recently began making its employees work megacycle shifts also has an injury rate that is twice as high as that seen in other warehouses nationwide.
Common warehouse injuries
When you work 10 or more hours at a time, your chance of experiencing one or more common warehouse injuries rises substantially. You may become more likely to experience a lifting-related injury or a musculoskeletal one, for example. You may also face a higher risk of experiencing overexertion or repetitive stress-related injury when you spend more than 10 hours at a time working in a warehouse.
A safety coalition recently asked the warehouse employer making its employees work megacycle shifts to give all who work during this time an extra $2 per hour.
