In brief
The Regulation on Emergencies requires the shift pattern to be taken into account when support staff and their substitutes are appointed. In practice this means setting up firefighting, rescue, protection and first aid teams separately according to the number of employees on site in each shift, posting a separate team list for nights and weekends, and running drills with the night team as well.
Why are emergency teams planned separately in a shift-based workplace?
In most workplaces the emergency plan is prepared during office hours, with the day staff. The most experienced foremen, supervisors and office staff are put on the team list. The problem is that fires and injuries do not choose their time: at three in the morning, with thirty people working on the line, the entire firefighting team on the list may be at home. In a shift-based workplace, emergency teams are built not from the total number on paper but from the people actually on site when the incident happens.
The Regulation on Emergencies in Workplaces addresses this explicitly. Under Art. 11/8, when the support staff to be assigned to teams and any substitutes are appointed, the workplace's shift pattern is taken into account. Paragraph nine of the same article requires a list containing the support staff's names, job titles, areas of responsibility and contact details to be posted visibly at employees' eye level; paragraph ten requires a replacement to be appointed when a support staff member leaves or changes position.
In automotive supplier, textile and machinery factories running three shifts in the OIZs (organised industrial zones) of Bursa and the surrounding provinces, this rule is the most frequently overlooked part of the plan. We covered specialist and physician visits and training in shift-based production in our article on shift-based production in Bursa's OIZs; this article focuses solely on emergency teams.
Number of support staff and first aiders on the night shift
The minimum numbers are defined in two regulations:
| Team | Less hazardous | Hazardous | Very hazardous | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighting, rescue and protection (each) | At least 1 for every 50 employees or fewer | At least 1 for every 40 employees or fewer | At least 1 for every 30 employees or fewer | Regulation on Emergencies Art. 11/3 |
| First aid | 1 for every 20 employees | 1 for every 15 employees or fewer | 1 for every 10 employees or fewer | First Aid Regulation Art. 19 |
In workplaces with fewer than 10 employees, a single support staff member is enough for all of the firefighting, rescue and protection teams (Art. 11/4). This exception depends on the total number of employees in the workplace. A one-person team is not enough for the eight-person night shift of a factory with 200 employees.
On first aiders for every shift, the First Aid Regulation itself makes no distinction between shifts. However, the Regulation on Emergencies includes the first aid team among the teams to be set up according to the shift pattern (Arts. 11/1 and 11/8). The safe practice is therefore to calculate the number of first aiders according to the number of people actually working on each shift.
Worked example: a three-shift factory
Consider a factory in the hazardous class producing motor vehicle parts (29.32.20) with 150 employees. The employees are split across shifts as 80, 45 and 25. The regulation's figures are read as "40 and multiples inclusive": 1 person is needed for up to 40 employees, 2 for 41–80.
| Shift | Employees | Firefighting | Rescue | Protection | First aiders | Total assigned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day (08–16) | 80 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| Evening (16–24) | 45 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| Night (24–08) | 25 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Total | 150 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 26 |
Had the calculation been based on the factory total, 4 people per team and 10 first aiders would have seemed sufficient. The shift-based calculation requires one more person in each team and one more first aider; more importantly, it determines which shift these people are on.
The table assumes the teams consist of different people. Putting the same person on two teams completes the numbers on paper, but at the moment of an incident one person cannot both fight a fire and give first aid to an injured person. Do the same calculation separately for weekend days when only the maintenance team is working.
How to keep night and weekend team lists
A single "emergency team list" is not enough in a shift-based workplace. A workable arrangement is as follows:
- Prepare a separate list for each shift. The list should show the team, name, area of duty and internal phone number, with the shift hours in the heading.
- Link teams to shift groups. If there is a weekly rotation (groups A, B, C and so on), team members are listed by group rather than by person; when a group moves to the night shift, its team moves with it.
- Appoint a substitute from the same shift for each role. Art. 11/8 requires substitutes to be appointed according to the shift pattern as well. A substitute on the day shift does not cover a gap on the night shift.
- Appoint a team leader and a coordinator for the night too. Each team has a team leader (Art. 11/6), and a person from the protection team is assigned to coordination (Art. 11/7). On the night shift this role usually falls to the shift supervisor; put it in writing.
- Prepare a weekend and holiday duty list. For periods worked by few people, such as the maintenance team, security guards and the boiler room, write down separately who handles firefighting and who handles first aid.
- Confirm the team at the start of each shift. Add a line to the handover form: "Is the emergency team complete; if anyone is missing, who is covering?" Leave and sick notes change the list every day.
Give the protection team the current list of employees on that shift. A head count after evacuation is mandatory (Art. 10/2); a team that does not know who is inside cannot carry out the count.
Night evacuation: what is different from the day?
Night evacuation is not simply the day plan carried out in the dark. On the night shift there are fewer people and fewer managers, some doors are locked for security reasons and outside help may take longer to arrive. Review the following headings in the plan for night conditions:
- Emergency lighting: Under Annex 1 of the Regulation on Workplace Buildings and Annexes, emergency exit routes and doors that need lighting have emergency lighting powered by a separate energy source when the power fails. Test the fittings to see that they actually come on.
- Locked doors: Emergency exit doors may not be locked or tied shut. Side doors chained at night as an anti-theft measure are the most common deficiency.
- Assembly point: An assembly area that is easy to find by day may be in darkness at night; light it and mark it.
- Lone workers: How will the security guard, the boiler room operator or a forklift operator working alone in the warehouse hear the alarm, and whom will they notify?
- Shutting off energy and gas: The emergency plan includes the shut-off points and valves for electricity and gas (Art. 12). On the night shift, who holds the keys to these points and who will shut them off?
- External support: Contact with 112 and, if there is one, the OIZ fire brigade; who will meet the fire brigade at the main gate? For coordination, see our article on emergency coordination with the OIZ fire brigade.
For structural matters such as the width and marking of escape routes, see our article on escape route and emergency exit rules.
The shift emergency plan and drills
A drill is held at least once a year and a drill form is prepared (Art. 13). The regulation does not require a separate drill for each shift; however, a drill held at the same daytime hour every year means the night team never tries out the escape route, the head count or external communication. To make the shift emergency plan realistic:
- Rotate drills across different shifts over the years; if possible, hold an evacuation drill in the first hours of the night shift.
- Hold a short tabletop exercise with the weekend maintenance team: when a fire breaks out, who raises the alarm, who cuts the power, who calls 112?
- In the night drill, check the emergency lighting and door opening, and time the head count.
- Record the findings on the form and reflect them in the plan.
For planning drills and filling in the form, see our articles on emergency drills, and for team training, support staff training. The 2026 basic administrative fine for breaching emergency obligations is 22,194 TL for each obligation not fulfilled, applied every month the breach continues; details are in the OHS administrative fines tool.
As part of our emergency plan service, Bursa Sistemer calculates teams from the shift lists and plans night drills for shift-based businesses in Bursa and the surrounding provinces. For sector-specific risks, see our automotive supplier industry page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are separate support staff mandatory on every shift?
Art. 11/8 of the Regulation on Emergencies requires the shift pattern to be taken into account when support staff and substitutes are appointed. In practice this means trained people who can respond must actually be on site on every shift.
Our night shift has 8 people; is one support staff member enough?
The one-person team exception for fewer than 10 employees applies to the total number of employees in the workplace. If your total is 10 or more, separate staff must also be assigned for firefighting, rescue and protection on the 8-person night shift.
Can a security guard serve on the emergency team?
A security guard who has been trained and whose duties are defined in writing can serve, particularly on the protection team. If they are a subcontractor's employee, the principal employer is responsible for preparing the plan for the workplace as a whole (Art. 18); the assignment and training are coordinated between the two employers and written into the plan.
Is it mandatory to hold a drill for each shift separately?
No, the regulation requires a drill at least once a year. However, rotating the drill across different shifts over the years and making sure the night team tries out the evacuation at least once is the only way to show the plan also works at night.
An emergency plan that really works on site, with scenarios, support teams, evacuation diagrams and an annual drill.
Bursa SİSTEMER OSGB Technical Team — written from the field experience of our OHS specialists and workplace physicians. Legal information is valid as of the publication/update date; contact us for an assessment specific to your business.