Workplaces that transmit task-relevant data between shifts are safer and more productive. Shift handover procedure ensure that the changeover process is more reliable, uniform, and accurate.
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What Does Shift Andover Means?
“The correct, reliable transmission of task-relevant information throughout shift changes, so ensuring continuity and management of safe and effective functioning,” says the purpose of shift handover.
What Is the Importance of Shift Handover Forms?
If you’re a shift manager, you need to make sure that every person that starts a shift has just as much information as possible. During the preceding shift, staff should be informed of any modifications or upgrades to operations.
Teams will be able to:
- Reduce the likelihood of miscommunication.
- Resolve any concerns that have arisen
- Reduce the number of safety incidents.
Shift handover protocols can be dangerous if they are not followed. Following the explosion at the Texas City Refinery in 2005, BP issued a report blaming the accident on poor communication as well as shift handover management. For safety, reliable communication regarding shift handovers is crucial, especially for complicated, high-risk operations.
Even in industries wherein miscommunication does not have life-or-death implications, poor communication between shift handovers can cause operations to slow down.
Shift handover forms regulate how communication is retained and prioritised, ensuring that employees are kept informed as well as up-to-date on pertinent information.
Structured handover checklists have “a good influence on boosting the quality of communication within the surgical team, decreasing the information omission rate, and raising satisfaction,” according to a 2021 study on shift handover in hospitals.
Developing a shift handover template is a shifting planning best practise that can have a significant influence on productivity, happiness, and safety, regardless of industry.
Three Aspects of a Shift Handover Form
Shift handover software reports differ depending on the type of business and your company’s specific demands.
When writing a handover report, keep the following three points in mind:
A Summary of the Production
It is easier for the inbound team to orient individuals and get to work faster if a short description of what was done throughout a particular shift is included.
Pro tip: Keep summaries succinct and to-the-point. Complete sentences aren’t required. Information can be conveyed more effectively using photo or video records.
Status of Current Tasks
At the end of a shift, there are likely to be ongoing projects or unresolved concerns. It is easier to move between shift teams if you keep track of what has previously been done and what still has to be done.
Key Responsibilities and Roles
Maintaining a command structure can assist new teams in determining who to contact for additional information. It’s crucial to include the shift’s manager or supervisor, as well as any team members who have been allocated particular projects or duties.
A shift handover statement may also include the following items:
- Progress is being stymied by obstacles.
- Events that are coming up or deadlines that must be met
- The new shift team has a number of urgent tasks to complete.
Tips for Improving Shift Handover
Here are some pointers on how to improve shift handover. This includes carefully describing material to be communicated, employing tools such as log books before handover, using multiple communication mediums (e.g., written and spoken), allowing enough time, and building communication skills and abilities.
Theory of Communication
In the absence of particular guidance on shift handover, there is more than enough communication advice that may be applied to shift handover in general. One factor is certain: individuals underestimate the intricacy of the process of communication and exaggerate their capability to communicate effectively as a result.
Aspects of Behaviour
One of the reasons that shift handover is such a tough subject to address is that individual behaviour has such a large impact on its success. In this sense, the following points are crucial:
- People must be willing to speak up if they don’t comprehend what they’ve been told; they must be willing to question what they’ve been told; and they must be willing to oppose what they’ve been taught.
- They must be able to anticipate what information someone else requires.
- They must demonstrate that they are engaged in what is being said to them.
- They must shift scheduling software for the handover in advance.
The Obstacles to Better Handover
There are several reasons why making a positive contribution is challenging, including the fact that shift software is a highly complex operation. We must recognise, in particular, that the people involved do not always have motivation to put forth the necessary effort. Finally, we must recognise that the persons who are normally responsible for increasing performance are either absent (managers) or preoccupied (supervisors) during handovers. The majority of handovers will take place without supervision.
A Different Point of View
It’s never easy to change people’s habits, especially when they don’t see an immediate advantage. As a result, having a different strategy to optimising shift handover might be beneficial. The idea here is to use the log books and handover reports that are used at handover to record data that can then be shared.
An Examination of the Data Gathered for useUpon Handover.
A research was done at an offshore oil production facility to establish what type of data is recorded for usage during handover. Given that many of the events documented in shift log software, books and handover reports were rarely reported in those other systems and so this information was largely untapped, analysis of the data revealed that many of the occurrences recorded in logs and handover documents could be especially helpful for safety and reliability studies.
Errors Made by People
Human error is widely acknowledged as a significant source of accidents and mishaps. Also, many of these errors occur on a regular basis with little consequence, and only rarely coincide with other occurrences to trigger an accident. As a result, it’s especially useful to be aware of the errors that occur on a regular basis but are rarely reported via formal channels.
