I guess one of the privileges of entering professional science workforce (specifically healthcare and engineering) is to experience night shift firsthand. I would never expect myself to be working on night shifts. I experienced working on a night shift for only a couple of times during a major turn around in my previous plant. Because it was during start up of the plant, most of us were busy (or trying to be busy, to be precise). Therefore we did not feel tired anything until sun rose. Anyway for those who do not know what a turn around is, a plant turn around is when the entire plant was being shut down for a period of time and have its equipment inside the plant repaired. During turn around, the production stopped entirely.
I told myself that it was okay to work on night shifts when the senior manager at the current plant asked me to work on shifts. It was temporary though, as I will be joining the normal hour executives after a few months to prepare for the upcoming turn around. Granted, it might sound pretty excruciating to work at night and have your biological clock all messed up, but a 4-days off after each rotation is what I need right now. Otherwise, how else can I go back home to Kuching as often as possible without sacrificing my annual leave?
Because it is 3am in the morning and most of my technicians are sleeping during this silent hour, let me share with you my first night shift experience.
First night shift:
6.45pm:
Drove into the plant. Stupid office clerk told me no shuttle available and did not even put the effort to ask. She just anyhow told me shift executives are no longer entitled to take shuttle bus. I think she just plainly hates me. The sun was setting. I walked into the plant, not knowing what to expect.
7.00pm:
Joined my technicians at the pantry. They had their dinner and I had mine. Because I heard too many stories on how night shift makes you fat, I stocked up organic rolled oats and low fat milk. While they happily devoured their home cooked dinner, I had my overnight oats instead. Recipe: Low fat milk, rolled oats and occassionally nuts/chia seed. Pour them in fridge and leave them overnight. Voila! My technicians jeered me for not joining them to get fat, but it is okay. Oat is healthy.
8.00pm:
I followed any random technician (depends on my mood) to take readings at his designated area. I was still amazed at the tab he was using to key in the readings. It is a good initiative to digitalize the information as hardcopy information either got lost, stolen or rotten (it is made of paper).
9.00pm:
Was not allowed to go into site as there was radiography going on at the flange which has leak. So I went into the control room instead and had a chit-chat with the panelmen. The chit-chat was purely professional, with exception of occasional "Bila nak kahwin" and "Bila balik Kuching". Despite their collected years of experiences, they were not fully well-equipped with knowledge. Having said that, they tried their best at the very least. I do not mind people who are not as knowledgeable as long as they try their best. I am not knowledgeable myself. I still do not know how to draw a complete process flow diagram of an ammonia process for my plant.
11.30pm:
Had the nightly class sessions with my team. Great way not to fall asleep.
1.30am:
I walked into the control room and saw the panelmen snoring away with lights off. Was slightly ticked off at first, but then empathy got better of me so I decided to leave them alone. Staff working night shift are more of standby staffs on site anyway, so when the plant itself do not cause trouble, why not sleep? As long as they respond should there be any major alarm or even trip, it is not wrong for them to sleep. But the best case scenario would definitely be them staying alert and continue monitoring the plant's performance most of the time. But nothing is perfect. I have to accept that. As for myself, sleepiness started to kick in too. So I'm not perfect too.
3.00am:
Tried to study more on plant process but nothing went in as I was too sleepy. I ended up playing games.
5.00am:
Went to pantry to refresh myself. Made myself a cup of Milo.
6.30am:
Handover session. I was not used to seeing staffs handing over their jobs personally. To me, it would be best if there was a short gathering to make sure every single incoming shift staff were aware of what happened during the previous shift. Voiced out once, and I could see them starting to get defensive so I just let it be and decided to make a change bit by bit as the time goes by.
7.00am:
Went into the car and drove home. I was EXTREMELY sleepy. I swore I almost had an accident while driving home as I felt too sluggish and my eyelids, my eyelids were too heavy to even lift up. Thankfully I managed to reach home in one piece half an hour later. I showered and scrambled to my heavenly king-sized bed and my plush duvet. (I am missing my bed right now as I typed out my bed)
My key takeaways:
1. I start to feel sluggish and sleepy from 2am onwards.
2. Basically 1am onwards is standby time. We are physically there to respond to any emergency. Hence, the workload at night is a lot less compared to day shift's workload.
3. Less stress during night shift. No managers to question you (except when anything bad happens to the plant). No executives to bombard you with emails and Whatsapp. Really, it is a bad idea to discuss work-related issues in Whatsapp. Digitalization doesn't mean intruding our own personal space for the sake of convenience. This is digital transformation done wrong.
4. Very quiet. I am starting to get used to this quietness.
5. More free time for self-reflection. The reason why I can post 2 blog posts for 2 nights in a row. Haha. Why no emoji I want to put laugh until cry emoji.
Good night and good morning.
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