Mr Angry from Purley I'm sorry, but I'm not clear from your post exactly what your point is. Do you think pilots' hours and shift patterns lead to fatigue, and therefore are dangerous, or don't you?
You say
So, we agree that you work 24/7 so cannot be compared to Office bods. However,I would argue that whilst you shouldn't be compared to Office Bods like us Rostering idiots,how about being compared similar "well paid" jobs such as Office Managers / Docters / Lawyers etc. Which of these work an average 47.5 week?. Not many, more like 70+ / 280 over 4 weeks etc.
A few points in response to this:
1.) Why do we need to compare ourselves to other professions? It doesn't make our own case any more or less valid.
2.) If you do want to make comparisons, then compare like with like, which I don't think you're doing.
3.) Our job subjects us to usually four pressurisation cycles a day, and an office atmospheric pressure equivalent to 8000' altitude. These cycles and the depleted oxygen levels are known to produce fatigue in themselves.
4.) We are subject to high levels of noise in the cockpit, both from exterior and interior airflow, and ATC. Try doing a long day in a B737-400 with both recirc fans on - it's ****ing noisy. Again this can lead to fatigue.
5.) Low level, high frequency vibration - again, known to produce fatigue.
6.) Hundreds of lives are in our hands. This is a very unusual job in that we are expected not only to use our mental ability and experience, but do something that requires good motor skills as well - this is where fatigue can be a real killer. We can't have an off day.
7.) I've worked long hours in a few different jobs, and I know when I've felt most exhausted.
Anyway, as I said above, I think it's spurious to compare with other jobs otherwise we get into the Pythonesque "....luxury, we used to live in a cardboard box and lick road clean wit' tongue" school of debate.
Again, a bottom line for you in order to make my point nice and clear and simple.
We are subject to the normal hassles that most people experience at work. On top of this however, we are subject to environmental stresses and very disruptive shift work. We are expected to show sound judgement and a good level of hand/eye co-ordination without fail. Hundreds of lives are in our hands. Yet we are constantly battling fatigue. We are exhausted, and just don't get enough down time to recover. Any sane person would say this is a recipe for disaster. The End.