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EFFICIENCY OF NIGHT WORK 35 
er in which it reduced the night accident rate are of interest. 
[he night superintendent of a force of more than 800 men 
ays: 
“The lowest ebb in a man’s life comes around 2 A. M., and this 
hour and half from 2 a. Mm. to 3.30 A. M. causes us more injuries 
than any #iree hours during the rest of the night. It seems almost 
impossible for a man to throw off the dull, sluggish atmosphere 
which envelops him at this time, and this feeling naturally dissi- 
pates his usual caution and makes him more liable to injuries. It 
might beinteresting to note here that we materially reduced casual- 
ties on one of our jobs which was running high in accidents, the 
quick-trip punch press, by requiring the new man to leave his 
machine for a few minutes at 2 a. Mm. and wash his face in cold 
water and take a short walk around the department.” 
The distribution of accidents on night work generally 
shows a peak after two or three hours of work and another 
high point in the late hours of the shift, as suggested in the 
above quotation. 
Factors Inducing or Retarding High Accident Rates 
An examination of the factors tending to produce a higher 
accident rate at night shows that they are more closely re- 
lated to the quality of the personnel than to the work itself 
or to the conditions surrounding it. Some of these factors, 
which apply more strictly to plants on a fixed shift basis, 
may be enumerated as follows: 
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1. The generally reported inferiority in skill and training 
of night men as compared to day men on similar jobs. 
2. The greater proportion of non-English speaking labor- 
ers on night work, because most English speaking 
workers do not care for night work. 
The tendency of some employees to do without ade- 
quate rest and sleep, producing an unsatisfactory 
physical and mental condition of the worker. 
The often reported inadequacy or inefficiency of super- 
vision and the tendency of some employees to disregard 
safety precautions under such conditions. 
The effects of alcohol taken either during or shortly 
before working hours. 
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