What Does
Journey Management Plan Mean?
A journey management plan or program is a set process of safety steps undertaken as part of a road transport journey, particularly one that involves driving for several hours.
The plans are designed to account for and thus reduce the risks associated with driver fatigue, inclement or dangerous road conditions, and other hazards.
Safeopedia Explains Journey Management Plan
These programs are commonly used in the context of the oil and gas, mining, and long-haul transportation fields, but they can apply to other sectors as well. In addition to reducing the risks associated with road trips, journey management plans also provide a written record of the plan for a journey, which can provide insight into the extent of the due diligence that an employer is taking toward its workers’ road-safety practices.
Journey management plans are a form of hazard assessment and are designed to identify all possible risk factors and associated mitigation techniques that may occur during a trip. This includes general driving risks such as those associated with fatigue—how long the drive is, as well as the length the driver has worked and gone without sleep beforehand—and situation-specific risks such as the crime rate in a given location or a patch of road that’s poorly lit at night. The risk mitigation and safety controls that are implemented as part of the planning process may differ depending on the vehicle being driven, such as whether it is a personal transport or a heavy transport vehicle.
The extent to which these plans are integrated into existing safety standards varies significantly by jurisdiction; however, in the case of an accident, they may be used to help demonstrate due diligence in ensuring worker safety per a jurisdiction’s general duty clause. Jurisdictions where journey management plans are required include the Australian State of Queensland’s Mining Health and Safety Act, which requires the use of journey management plans to examine the impact of shift hours and commuting times on employees. Transport Canada considers the use of a journey management plan to be part of the criteria that long-haul truck drivers can use to fulfill their mandatory rest obligations. The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers provides voluntary guidelines for journey management plans that are designed to reduce the amount of employee accidents related to taking long journeys to and from work sites.