One company however is taking an unusual step to combat financial pressures by forcing contract changes upon it’s workforce that some consider ‘inhumane’.

ASCO Group Limited has made mandatory changes to it’s working contracts which take effect next month. The changes will see employees who previously worked 7am to 7pm, being required to be available for work 24 hours per day 7 days of the week.

The proposed changes allows for employees to be working up to 15 hours per day and although an 11 hour break between shifts should be an entitlement, ASCO have advised it’s workforce that this can be reduced to suit operational requirements.

The proposed changes affect several positions in the company including the organisations chargehands, checkers, forklift operators and base operatives.

With ASCO now being able to call employees to work at any time day or night, it is worried that although the changes suit the organisation, they also  endanger the health and wellbeing of ASCOs workforce.

The human body is governed by an internal body clock in a processed referred to as it’s circadian rhythm. This process is a subconscious element of the human body which governs eating times, sleeping times and chemical releases that control mood. Constant changes to the circadian rhythm have been proven to cause physical fatigue and many studies have concluded that constant disruption can trigger or exacerbate a range of mental conditions.

It is thought the changes, which most conclude are not reasonable, only benefit the organisation and do so at a cost to the health of its workforce.

An employee of ASCO who wished to remain anonymous stated: “What ASCO are proposing is disgusting, we’re human beings not machines – we need sufficient rest to function. The proposed changes if implemented will increase risk and decrease the safety of the workforce.”

Craig Lennox, CEO of ASCOs European Operations stated:

“Current working practices do not allow us to effectively match labour to vessel loading and unloading. This leads to high levels of inefficiency. We need to move to more flexible ways of working to ensure the North Sea remains viable as a source of oil and gas for as long as possible.

‘We place vital importance on the health, safety and well-being of our employees and our proposals are in line with the Working Time Regulations. We are proposing that a relatively small group of people move to a highly flexible working pattern and that they work relatively fewer hours per month and be compensated for their flexibility.

These revised ways of working have already been successfully introduced in Aberdeen”