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March, 2005
A
Health and Safety Issue...
Labor
Protests State
Meal Break Proposal
Photos:
David Bacon
On February 8, 2005, workers picketed outside a public hearing held in San
Francisco by the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE).
DLSE is considering a proposal to change state regulations that currently
guarantee breaks and meal periods for California workers. Public hearings
are scheduled for several locations throughout the state.
According
to the California Labor Federation (the state's AFL-CIO), the
proposed changes will weaken workers' rights to breaks and meal
periods, and will shorten the length of time for taking legal
action against employers who refuse to provide them.
The
Labor Federation says that under the new rules "employers
would only be responsible for posting a notice of the right to
a break, not for actually providing one." Workers could
be asked to waive meal periods and work up to ten hours without
a break.
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Click
here for a factsheet (PDF format) from the California
Labor Federation on the proposed meal period regulations.
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Click
here for the text of the proposed regulations from the
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
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Meal
Breaks and Safety
LOHP's
Pam Tau Lee gave expert testimony at the San Francisco hearing
on the health and safety implications of the proposed changes.
This article is based on that testimony.
Both
business and labor endorse "prevention" as
a vital component of workplace health and safety. Keeping employees
safe and healthy is good for workers, good for society, and good
for the bottom line. Rest and meal breaks play an important role
in preventing injuries and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace.
It has been
well documented that fatigue can lead to accidents. Official
investigations of the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island disasters
found that employee fatigue played a very significant role in
these tragic incidents. But fatigue is also a concern for the
ordinary employee, whether she or he works in an office, factory,
construction site, or hospital; drives a bus; works in the agricultural
fields; cleans buildings; or serves food or drinks. Fatigue,
if allowed to build up, can result in injury, disease, lost time,
and medical costs.
At the end
of the day, workers are tired. A standard has been recognized
that sets the average work day at 8 hours. With longer work hours,
the risks of over- exertion and accumulated fatigue increase.
Rest and meal breaks are factored into the work day as a way
to let the body and mind recover and prevent fatigue from building
up. The greater the fatigue, the longer it takes to recover.
Also, if the work environment exposes employees to extreme hot
or cold temperatures, noise, glare, or vibration, removing themselves
from these exposures by taking breaks allows employees to reduce
the physical and possibly mental stress resulting from these
environmental conditions.
In many of
today’s jobs, prolonged sitting, standing, repetitive motion,
frequent lifting, and fast-paced work are the norm. These activities,
if not interrupted by rest breaks, can result in damaging long-term
wear and tear on the body. When an employee takes a rest break,
the muscles are given an opportunity to rest and recover. And
for employees who are on their feet most of the day, taking rest
breaks can prevent health problems associated with blood circulation
and high blood pressure. Replenishing the body with water and
some food is also important, to replace lost fluids and nutrients.
In a recent Research
Agenda bulletin, the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) notes that sometimes the standard
rest and meal breaks are not enough to recover from fatigue.
And for jobs requiring repetitive physical work or intense
concentration, NIOSH recommends that brief breaks each hour
seem best for recovery from muscle fatigue.
In LOHP's own
recent research on hotel
room cleaners, it was revealed that those who took their
breaks reported less muscle and joint pain than their counterparts
who skipped breaks.
Breaks are
especially important for employees who have chronic health problems.
For example, some medications for high blood pressure have a
diuretic effect. Not having the opportunity to take breaks often
leaves the employee with no choice but to skip his or her medications,
as is often the case with bus drivers. Employees with diabetes
are advised to have frequent small meals, thus breaks are important
for keeping to their diet.
Employees often
need to be reminded about the value of various health and safety
policies. For example, they may resist wearing dust masks to
protect themselves from harmful dust exposure. These can be uncomfortable,
and workers might find it easier and faster to work without respiratory
protection. Without reminders about the damage dust can cause
over time, these employees may make unsafe choices, neglect their
health for convenience, and forego wearing the protection. Thus
it is important to have and enforce rules about wearing the dust
mask.
The same goes
for taking breaks. It is tempting for many employees to hold
off taking their breaks and possibly leave work early. It is
all too easy to feel the pressure of getting the job done and
think your only choice is to forego your breaks. This practice
can have damaging effects, both immediately (possibly resulting
in an accident), or through long-term wear and tear on the body
that could be prevented with rest and recovery breaks.
Experienced
construction workers have this conversation with new hires all
the time. The lesson sometimes comes at a painful cost when an
accident occurs as a result of fatigue.
The existing
California meal period regulation goes a long way toward protecting
health. Breaks, just like wearing respiratory protection, must
be mandatory, not voluntary.
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