scope:

This standard applies to all Infrastructure Maintenance employees who undertake safety critical work, and to those suppliers who undertake safety critical work on Network Rail controlled infrastructure.

Specific requirements are set out for line managers or other identified roles who:

• Have responsibility for the rostering and/or management of staff who undertake safety critical work, and/or

• Are responsible for arranging, placing, controlling and monitoring of contracts which involve undertaking safety critical work on Network Rail controlled infrastructure.

The scope of this standard includes controls for:

• Working hours

• Exceedances of working time limits

• Design and risk assessment of working patterns (including rosters)

• Management of fatigue

• Monitoring and review of arrangements for managing fatigue and working hours.

The management of fatigue, working hours and exceedances for all employees undertaking safety critical work including:-

• All Section Managers, Work Delivery Managers, Supervisors and equivalent National Programme posts who undertake safety critical work.

• All engineers, Programme Managers and technical support employees who undertake safety critical work in the Delivery units.

• All engineers and technical support employees who undertake safety critical work in the National Programme teams.

• All other employees who undertake safety critical work not listed above.

Purpose

This standard defines the requirements for managing fatigue and working hours for Infrastructure Maintenance employees, and those employed under contract by Infrastructure Maintenance, who undertake safety critical work. Its purpose is to reduce the risks to health and safety that are associated with working patterns, shift work and excessive working hours.

This standard also demonstrates the means by which Infrastructure Maintenance will comply with Regulation 25 of the Rail and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006. The regulation states that:

1. "Every controller of safety critical work shall have in place arrangements to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that a safety critical worker under his management, supervision or control does not carry out safety critical work in circumstances where he is so fatigued or where he would be liable to become so fatigued that his health and safety or the health and safety of other persons on a transport system could be significantly affected.

2. The arrangements in paragraph (1) shall be reviewed by the controller of safety critical work where he has reason to doubt the effectiveness of those arrangements."