Hours and fatigue dog TMI guards
Source: BY GARRY LENTON, The Patriot-News (PA), Sunday, January 29, 2006
Veteran guards responsible for training new hires to the security force that protects Three Mile Island were sharing a key piece of insider information -- the best places to take a nap, according to an internal memo. "We have mentors and qualified officers informing new hires of all the locations that they can hide and catch a quick nap," wrote John Young, the head of security at TMI for Wackenhut, a private security force employed by the plant. ..... The memo, sent to security supervisors at the nuclear power plant on Oct. 17, also maintained that new hires were being told of shortcuts for tasks and warned of the "horrors" of working for Wackenhut. ..... Guards at TMI work 12-hour shifts, usually for two to three consecutive days, but sometimes longer. Documents provided to The Patriot-News show one officer worked more than 150 hours in a 14-day period, nearly the equivalent of two full-time jobs. The same officer averaged more than 54 hours a week for the first 10 months of 2005.