ORR publishes new guidance on managing fatigue in safety critical work

3 July 2006
ORR/17/06

The Office of Rail Regulation has today published new health and safety guidance on managing fatigue in safety critical work. The publication supports new requirements in the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS) which come into force on 1 October this year. The guidance, which was prepared by HSE during the development of ROGS, and widely consulted upon, is aimed at those who have control of safety critical work on a transport system. It describes a series of stages that a controller of safety critical work should follow, based on good practice in managing fatigue risks. 

Rob Andrews, ORR’s Director, Safety Policy, said:
“This guidance is being issued well in advance of the changes to the Regulations so that everyone with duties to manage the risks of fatigue knows what they will have to do. I am writing to senior managers in the rail industry to make sure that the information gets to the right people. Safety critical workers operate at all times of the day and night, and often to demanding schedules. This guidance will help their managers make sure that any mistakes, and the resulting health and safety risks, due to fatigue are avoided”.

Notes for editors

1. Copies of the guidance Managing fatigue in safety critical work are available on the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/293.pdf
2. This guidance relates to regulation 25 of the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS) which includes duties to ensure that safety critical work is not undertaken by anyone who may be, or could become, fatigued or who is not competent or fit. Regulation 25 comes into force on 1 October 2006. The existing Safety Critical Work Regulations 1994 and the current Approved Code of Practice on hours of work will remain in force until 30 September 2006.
3. During the development of ROGS HSE consulted widely on an Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) and guidance on Managing fatigue in Safety Critical Work which the Health and Safety Commission was proposing as part of the package. The content of the AcoP was later converted into guidance, as neither HSC nor ORR would have the power after 1 April 2006 to amend or withdraw an AcoP. Industry has been consulted on the guidance.
4. The Railways Act 2005 transferred policy responsibility for health and safety regulation for railway activities from the Health and Safety Commission/Executive (HSC/E) to ORR on 1 April 2006. Regulations transferring enforcement responsibilities came into effect on the same day. ORR is now the combined health, safety and economic regulator for the railway industry. The ORR head office is at One Kemble Street, London WC2B 4AN, telephone 020 7282 2000.
5. Employers will need to consider how the changes in the legislation affect their management arrangements, and early publication of this guidance on fatigue will be helpful to them.
6. The ROGS Regulations can be obtained from the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/uksi_20060599_en.pdf

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