Question 1. What are the different schedules employed in the fire service for full time departments?
According to the (IAFF. 2014) depending on local conditions, professional fire fighters are typically required to work from 40 to 56 hours a week. Although there are no absolute rules governing how shifts operate, the two most prevalent shifts are the 24-hour tours (24/48, 48/96, and the 56 hour shift commonly known as the California swing). The second most prevalent shifts are the split shift (12/12, 10/14). (See appendix 8 for samples of these variations). These five variants are the most common as given example by the IAFF. (Davis, 2000) In an applied research paper titled Cost effective work schedules for small-town fire departments, stated that the average workweek for career fire departments is 40 to 56 hours per week, those working an average of 50 hours or more a week tend to use a 24 hour on duty schedule. This is the case within the Sheffield Village fire department being they work a contractual 53-hour workweek. Departments working 48 or fewer hours…show more content… Five out of the current 14 employees indicated they were interested in working a 48/96 hour rotation. One employee was interested in the 10/14 split. Four were interested in the California Swing shift. No clear majority was selected for any shift rotation; however, there is an overall majority indicating that other shifts besides our current 24/28 have interest; In addition, it is interesting to note from the survey that no employees indicated major issues with our current shift rotation. If we look at the survey closer, we can see that one out of the five employees indicated they were only interested in our current 24/48 was interested in the department researching and presenting different shift alternatives. (Refer to Appendix 7 for full
