Fatigue management policy
VGC Value – “We deliver on our promises” – We are responsible for our performance
Vision
VGC Group believes people who are fatigued are not at their most productive, are a risk to themselves or others, and can develop poor mental health and wellbeing. We have strategies and actions to ensure everyone is given enough time to be away from the stress and rigours of work. By doing this we support the wellbeing and work life balance of our people ensuring that our workforce can function without detriment to themselves, their colleagues or our business.
Strategy
VGC has a duty to ensure that staff are not subjected to excessive hours of work, as part of our compliance with legislation, Network Rail and London Underground standards as well as the wellbeing of our workforce.
In addition VGC will ensure road vehicle drivers also comply with EU and UK regulations and any other relevant legislation applicable in the countries where we operate.
VGC has a system to monitor excessive working hours, and is responsible for briefing all information regarding working hours to all personnel and contractors. This will normally be achieved through the induction process and toolbox talks.
VGC has adopted the criteria established Network Rail, London Underground and other construction sites to manage fatigue to ensure that no individual shall work without prior risk-assessment and authorisation.
Network Rail:
- No more than 12 hours per turn of duty, no more than 14 hours inclusive of traveling time
- No more than 72 hours worked in one week (rolling 7 day period)
- No more than 60 hours in a rolling 7 day period without a fatigue management plan in place
- No more than 13 turns of duty in any 14 day period
- A minimum 12 hours rest between turns of duty
London Underground:
- No more than 6 shifts within any 7 consecutive days, with the 7th day being of at least 24 hours
- The minimum amount of rest between any two shifts shall be 11 hours
- The longest shift in any roster shall be 12 hours
- No more than 72 hours worked within 7 consecutive days
- No more than 12 shifts within any 14 consecutive days with the 13th & 14th days being of at least 24hours each
- Within any 14 day period, a minimum of two rest periods, each of which is not less than 24 hours
- No more than 12 hours worked or 14 hours including travelling time, or other lesser period, considered by the DER as appropriate to the health and safety requirements for a particular task to be undertaken
- Where personnel are engaged to work on signal and control system assets, the hours worked shall be strictly in accordance with UI standard S&CSE-SQ-DQN0033
- Have a minimum of 12 hours rest preceding any UI training course.
Construction sites
- Working hours on non-railway construction sites will be agreed specifically with the client. However, the criteria will be in line with that of Network Rail standards.
Planning and rostering reduce risk from fatigue and is used proactively to increase efficiencies and ensure VGC gives the best service possible to our clients. However, there are exceptional circumstances where these rules may be breached. This may include
- Essential emergency engineering works that may affect operational safety and mass disruption to Network Rail / LU Infrastructure
- Planned engineering works that have over run, and it is not reasonably practical to make alternative arrangements.
- Providing emergency services in the case of an incident or fatal accident regarding Passengers or other infrastructure users.
Where this situation should occur a risk assessment will be completed prior to any activities taking place and plans put in place to mitigate the risk.
Laurence Mckidd, chief executive officer
31 March 2023
Download a printable copy of our fatigue management policy (247kb pdf).