CHAPTER 1.

Introduction
I. Historical Background Call Center Industry is a much known job in our country and also the first career of every fresh college graduates. It was all about communications, languages, sales, services and others. It was introduced in our country by the mid of 20s. The industry was sent here because of the labor quality of the Filipinos. For many, call center industry seemed to be one of those dream careers of any white-collared employee. They apply in that kind of job because of the big salary that they can get every pay day. Even incentives and benefits are given to the employees. The workplaces are also good. Fully air-conditioned offices, relaxation rooms, fitness rooms, coffee breaks and many more. But then, in this career, it also has issues that may affect the health and life living of the employee. Because of those issues some employees get out of the career. Some issues make the body system of the agent weak. And one of this is the time issue that causes the health risks of an agent.

II.

Statement of the problem Call center agents have a hard time during shift works because of lack of sufficient information about it. This research paper will answer the following questions that may help the agents about the issue.

1. What is the time issue in the call center industry? 2. How graveyard shift does affect the health of the agents? 3. What are the health risks that can be acquire by the agents during graveyard shifts? 4. What are the practices that may prevent the health risks during graveyard shifts?

III.

Objectives The purpose of this research paper is to give information to every call center agents about the shifts works. This promotes the following. 1. To inform those people who wanted to be a call center agents. 2. To determine the different ways on how to prevent or control the health risks that they may obtain. 3. To make the reader aware about the risks in their career.

IV.

Importance of the study These are the importance in studying this kind of issue and they are the following. 1. It provides sufficient information about the time issues in the call center industry. 2. It guides the reader on how to be prepared in the said career. 3. It may also help the readers to understand the effect of shift works to their health

V.

Definition of terms There are some terms that you will encounter in the study and they are the following. 1. Fortnight Is a unit of time equal to 14 days or two weeks.

2. Split Shift Is an employment schedule A type of shift work where a persons normal day is split into two or more segments. 3. Night shifts Is either a group of workers who work during the night or the period in which they work. 4. Inbound call

Is one that a customer initiates to a call center or contact center.

5. Outbound call Is one initiated from a call center agent to a customer on behalf of the call center or a client.

6. Time frame A time period during which something occurs or is expected to occur. An agreement can be reached in a reasonably short time frame. 7. BPO Business Process Outsourcing

8. Jeopardize To expose to loss or injury put at risk

9. Circadian rhythm is an endogenously driven roughly 24-hour cycle in biochemical, physiological, or behavioral processes.

CHAPTER 2.
Discussion
I. Time Issues in a Call Center Industry The time issues may vary due to the demand of the company in BPO, especially call centers, the calls keep coming in the inbound accounts. So, a shift of an agent may be affected due to these situations. The shift of an agent is 8 hours, and a 1 hour break. But sometimes, overtimes must be done. Also, in call center, they have different time of work. Here in the Philippines, call centers here have the clients from America, Australia and much more that has different time zone that we have. And that causes agent to work in graveyard shifts. A. Graveyard Shifts The current popular explanations for the origin of the phrase "graveyard shift" reference the 19th century problem of accidentally burying people who were still alive. To prevent this from happening, the story goes; caskets were equipped with a bell-ringing device enabling a waking "corpse" to notify the world that they were no longer dead. The graveyard attendants who remained vigilant throughout the day and night worked the graveyard shift. According to Michael Quinion at World Wide Words the above explanation is merely a story and nothing more. He explains that the "graveyard shift is

an evocative term for the night shift between about midnight and eight in the morning, when - no matter how often you've worked it - your skin is clammy, there's sand behind your eyeballs, and the world is creepily silent, like the graveyard. The phrase dates only from the early years of the twentieth century." Graveyard shift means a shift of work running through the early hours of the morning, especially one from midnight until 8 am.

Graveyard shift, night shift or third shift (3rd shift) means a shift of work running through the early hours of the morning, especially shifts from midnight until 08:00 or from 23:00 until 07:00. There is no certainty as to the origin of this phrase; according to Michael Quinion it is little more than "an evocative term for the night shift when your skin is clammy, there's sand behind your eyeballs, and the world is creepily silent, like the graveyard."

In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that working the graveyard shift would be listed as a "probable" cause of cancer. B. Shift Works Shift works is also one of the time issues in the call center industry. Shift work is an employment practice designed to make use of the 24 hours of the clock. The term "shift work" includes both long-term night shifts and work schedules in which employees change or rotate shifts. Split shift

Split shift is used primarily in the catering, transport, hotel, and hospitality industry. Waiters and chefs work for four hours in the morning (to serve lunch), then four hours in the evening (to serve an evening meal). The average working day of a chef on split shifts could be 10:00 to 14:00 and then 17:00 to 21:00

Split shift example:

Time

Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri On Off Off Off Off Off Off

10:0014:00 On On On On 14:0017:00 Off Off Off Off 17:0021:00 On On On On

On Off

Earlies and lates

Earlies and lates is used primarily in industries such as customer service (help desk/phone-support), convenience stores, child care (day nurseries), and other businesses that require coverage greater than the average 9:00 to 5:00 working day in the UK. Employees work in two shifts that largely overlap, such as early shift from 08:00 to 16:00 and late shift from 10:00 to 18:00

Earlies and lates shift example:

Time

Sat

Sun

Mon

Tues

Wed

Thur Fri Off Off

08:0016:00 Shift 1 Shift 1 Shift 1 Shift 1 Shift 1 Off 15:0023:00 Shift 2 Shift 2 Shift 2 Shift 2 Shift 2 Off 7-day fortnight shift

In the 7-day fortnight shift pattern, employees work their allotted hours within 7 days rather than 10. Therefore, 41 hours per week equate to 82 hours per fortnight (fourteen days and nights), which is worked in seven days, at 1112 hours per shift. This shift structure is used in the broadcast television industry, as well as many law enforcement agencies, as well as health care fields such as nursing and clinical laboratories in the US.

7-day fortnight shift example:

Week 1 Time Days Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri

Shift 'A' Shift 'A' Shift 'C' Shift 'C' Shift 'C' Shift 'A' Shift 'A' Day 2 Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 3 Day 4

08:00 to 20:00 Day 1 Nights

Shift 'B' Shift 'B' Shift 'D' Shift 'D' Shift 'D' Shift 'B' Shift 'B' Night 2 Night 1 Night 2 Night 3 Night 3 Night 4

20:00 to 08:00 Night 1 Week 2 Time Sat

Sun

Mon

Tues

Wed

Thur

Fri

Days

Shift 'C' Shift 'C' Shift 'A' Shift 'A' Shift 'A' Shift 'C' Shift 'C' Day 5 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 6 Day 7

08:00 to 20:00 Day 4 Nights

Shift 'D' Shift 'D' Shift 'B' Shift 'B' Shift 'B' Shift 'D' Shift 'D' Night 5 Night 5 Night 6 Night 7 Night 6 Night 7

20:00 to 08:00 Night 4

One of the advantages of using this pattern is each shift pair, for example A and B, will get time off on weekends alternatively, because the schedule is fixed and does not drift.

II.

Graveyard shifts and Shift works affects the health of the agents.

Graveyard shifts means working at night. This timeframe is an issue as well as a risk in the health of an agent. Even though agents get to sleep in the morning after their shifts, it is still good to rest at night. In daylight, the distractions to the sleep are everywhere. Noises are everywhere. So an agent couldnt rest very well unlike the workers that get to rest at night.

The call centers are really very exciting and give lot of comfort to employee. The employee of the call centers really enjoys the environment of the work. The night shift jobs will give the lot of freedom to the employees so they love to work in this shift. But here is important factor comes for the health that is night shift is not good for the heart. Sometime we are busy with the schedule work and couldnt give much time to do the health based excursuses it may be you have heard about the bad effective on the heart while working in night at call centers.

The researchers say an irregular heartbeat can be an indicator a person will go on to develop more serious heart problems. Mostly it happens because human bodys natural circadian rhythms tell that the co ncerned person should not be working when he or she should take sleep.

Many of our physical and chemical roles keep fluctuating during different times of the day. Take for example; let me tell you something about cortisol concentration which changes daily. Cortisol is the most potent glucocorticoid produced by the human adrenal. This peaks during the morning hours when glucose is needed for activity and reaches its low point late in the evening. So the chances of heart attacks are very high in the morning time. It is important to take a proper rest while working in the night shift at call centers and we can avoid the heart attacks.

III.

Health risks during graveyard shifts and shift works.

Being awake at night and asleep at day may have risks. These timeframes may lead to hypertension, obesity, eye disorders, eating disorders and many more. If you work during the night, or in the graveyard shift, as it is commonly known, there are certain health effects that you might have to deal with. Working in shifts can jeopardize your body and brain, both. Night Shift Health Effects

It becomes quite impossible to have a sound sleep during the daytime. Not only because a human brain is programmed to rest and sleep during the

night, but also because of the noise, which is perhaps the biggest disturbing factor. People who sleep during the day have to deal with noisy neighbors, children, traffic, etc.

The brain generally requires at least 8 hours of sleep to feel nourished and rested. But because of the busy environment during the daytime, it is not always possible to sleep 8 hours every day. As a result, your body will be tired and you will feel fatigued the whole time.

The sleep/wake cycle of the body is disturbed because of working in shifts. When you are awake during the night and asleep during the day, your body does not receive the proper, positive biological cues because of the amount of light that is present in the environment during the daytime. These signs are very important to regulate the circadian rhythms that control the sleep/wake cycle of the body and brain. Inturn, this will pose difficulty in sleeping.

Working in shifts can have an effect similar to jet lag. The body, on an average, needs one hour per day to adjust to the changes in the sleeping habit but working in shifts disrupts this. Hence the person who works in night shifts finds it quite impossible to sleep properly.

Working the whole night can also cause heart attacks. People who work during the night and sleep during the day are more susceptible to heart diseases and even heart attacks, mainly, because of their work pattern. This is because of lack of proper sleep, stressing your body during the night, chronic stress, etc.

Not only is heart attack, an irregular heart beat a good indicator of the condition of your heart and your body as well. Irregular heart beat can occur when you work during the night and try and sleep during the day. It is also a good indicator of how your body is taking this whole change in the sleep cycle. An irregular heart beat can cause several other diseases in the body as well.

Another very important problem that night shift workers face is they are not able to relax from the work environment, after their shift is over. This might not seem to be an important thing, but it sure is. People who work during the day time mostly have 3-4 hours before they go to bed. But night shift workers generally come home and get right into the bed with all the stress and tension of work with them. It is very important to relax and distance yourself from the stress of the work before you go to bed. One can listen to music, eat something healthy or watch some kind of TV show to relax.

IV.

Practices that may prevent the health risks during the shifts. In the BPO industry, every organization has the essential needs of graveyard shifts agents. Facilities like relaxation areas, fitness gyms, pantries, recreational activities and more are given to an agent to somehow instill a normal life. Even if they really having a not-normal lifestyle. Graveyard shift is a thing of the 20th century. Night shift workers range from blue collar to white collar jobs, which accounts for 20 percent of the working population. If you are assigned to a graveyard shift, taking extra care of your body can help reduce your vulnerability. Lack of sleep is a top concern among

shift workers, so to improve sleep, you can fool your mind into thinking it is nighttime during the day by blocking off any light source. Put blinds on your window Get and regular create a mood after conducive work to and sleeping. sleep.

exercise

Eat only light meals during the night and avoid big meals before you hit the sheets. Your biological clock should switch by itself in at least a month to three months. However, if you are still having difficulty getting sleep during the day and continue to feel drowsy while working at night, then you might as well give your body a break before it actually falters. A graveyard shift may not be the job for you.

There are a number of things that you can do to make sure you get enough good quality sleep even while working the night shift:

Bright Lights: While at work during the night, try to be in as much bright light as possible. A full-spectrum light would be best, but any increase in light will help your body to regulate its sleep/wake cycle.

Dark Bedroom: When you are trying to sleep, make your bedroom as dark as possible. Close the curtains and the door. Some people find that sleep masks help block the light, allowing for more refreshing sleep.

Increase Your Total Sleep: Add naps and lengthen the hours you spend sleeping to make up for a loss in sleep quality.

Limit Caffeine: Use caffeine only in the early part of your shift. Try to avoid it toward the end of your shift so you will be able to go right to sleep when it's time.

Limit Shift Changes: Try to stay on one schedule for as long as possible. Shifting between day and night work is especially hard on the body.

Recommendation

This manuscript is for everyone but specifically to those who wanted to be a call center agent and to those agents who sought to have their graveyard shifts. This article is recommended to the people who are concerned to their health during the shift works. To all agents who are not yet informed about the timeframes in the industry that they might enter. And to those who do not know yet that they can encounter different risks during the shifts.

Conclusion

I therefore that the dream career of every employer is a good start of their living. Through this career they can get big salaries, incentives and benefits that will suit them. But then, there is always a consequence in every good thing that may happen. According to the research and even some of the agents they already encountered some risks during their works. They attain some health issues through some night shifts.

Bibliography

Atendido, Chase et al. Food Choices of Graveyard Shift Call Center Agents Influenced by Work Related Stress, March 2009

Electronic References 1. http://www.gopinoy.com/advice/workplace-issues/graveyard-shift-andyour-health.html 2. http://longevity.about.com/od/sleep/a/night_shift.htm 3. http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/night-shift-health-effects-2581.html 4. http://www.libraryspot.com/know/graveyard.htm 5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graveyard_shift 6. http://callcentersindia.wordpress.com/2007/11/06/call-center-nightshift-effects-on-health/ 7. http://www.ehow.com/facts_5557800_effects-working-night-shiftdepression.html