ADOSH-SF Code of Practice CoP 25.0 - Driver Fatigue Prevention

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Abu Dhabi Occupational Safety and
Health System Framework
(ADOSH-SF)
Code of Practice
CoP 25.0 – Driver Fatigue Prevention
Version 4.0
July 2024

ADOSH-SF – Codes of Practice
CoP 25.0 - Driver Fatigue Prevention - Version 4.0 – 15th July 2024 Page 2 of 14
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Training and Competency ........................................................................................................................... 5
3. Requirements .................................................................................................................................................. 6
3.1 Roles and Responsibilities ................................................................................................................. 6
3.2 Fatigue Risk Management Program............................................................................................... 7
3.3 Fatigue Management Policy ............................................................................................................. 8
3.4 Schedules and Rosters........................................................................................................................ 8
3.5 Employer Supplied Accommodation............................................................................................... 9
4. Record Keeping ............................................................................................................................................. 10
5. References ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
6. Document Amendment Record ............................................................................................................... 12

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1. Introduction
(a) This Code of Practice (CoP) applies to all employers and places of business within the
Emirate of Abu Dhabi. If requirements of this document conflict with requirements set
by another regulatory authority, employers are required to follow the more stringent
requirement.
(b) The purpose of this Code of Practice is to put in place the framework for employers to
reduce the likelihood of fatigue related driving incidents.
(c) This Code of Practice establishes the operating standards for avoidance of fatigue as
well as other requirements for management of fatigue related issues.
(d) For the purposes of this document, the following definitions will apply.
Term Definition
Break
Any continuous, uninterrupted period of time which is
used exclusively for recuperation during which a
driver does not carry out any driving or other work
duties.
Driver
Any driver of a vehicle, driving for commercial rather
than private purposes. This includes when required to
drive either regularly or occasionally for business
purposes.
Fatigue
A term used to describe a general feeling of
sleepiness, being mentally or physically tired, or being
drained or exhausted. It reflects a level of impairment
from a normal “rested” state.
Fatigue Risk Management Program
(FRMP)
An integrated management program that includes the
policy, practices and procedures for identifying,
managing and monitoring the risks posed to health &
safety by fatigue.
Impaired by Fatigue
A driver is considered “Impaired by fatigue” if his/her
ability to drive or operate a vehicle safely is affected
by fatigue.
Night Time The period between 00:00 hours (midnight) and
05:00 hours
Night Worker Any person who works 2 hours or more during the
“Night Time” period.
Operator The entity allocated or charged with or undertaking
the operation of commercial vehicles.
Responsible Person
A person designated by the employer who, through
the appropriate training and experience is competent
to implement, oversee and manage the employer’s
fatigue risk management program.
Rest
A continuous, uninterrupted period of time where a
person may freely dispose of their time. Rest does not
include breaks or time spent working under obligation
or instruction for any employer.

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Term Definition
Roster A planned pattern of work and rest for a driver for a
defined period of time, normally a week or more.
Schedule A plan of a trip or a series of trips to meet a transport
task.
Scheduler
Person with the responsibility for organizing the work
routes, trips, rosters or other duty requirements for a
driver.
Vehicle
Any powered truck, car, bus, van, motorcycle or item
of site plant that may be operated by a driver or
operator, used for commercial rather than private
purposes.
Working Hours
Any time for which the person is working at the
employer’s disposal and carrying out work duties.
Working hours does not solely include driving hours
but also other associated tasks such as loading and
unloading tasks, cleaning and repair work, and
inspection, etc.

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2. Training and Competency
(a) Employers shall ensure OSH training complies with the requirements of:
(i)
ADOSH-SF – Element 5 – Training, Awareness and Competency;
(ii)
ADOSH-SF – Mechanism 7.0 – Occupational Safety and Health Practitioner and
Service Provider Registration.
(b) Employers shall ensure that all employees are capable of undertaking roles and
responsibilities assigned within this CoP.
(c) Employers shall ensure that those persons identified within this CoP as having
specific duties or responsibilities, shall be trained to such a level to carry out those
duties and responsibilities in a safe, proficient and expedient manner.
(d) The fatigue risk education program must be documented.
(e) Those persons with responsibilities within the Fatigue Risk Management Program
(FRMP) must receive suitable and sufficient information and training to enable them
to carry out those responsibilities safely.
(f) As a minimum, the following persons are required to be included within the fatigue
risk education program:
(i) drivers;
(ii) the responsible person; and
(iii) schedulers.
(g) The education program for Drivers as a minimum, must include the following key
elements:
(i) how to identify signs of fatigue;
(ii) effects of medicines and substances, including alcohol on fatigue;
(iii) when and how to report suspected fatigue, and action to be taken;
(iv) lifestyle and health factors which influence fatigue;
(v) potential health & safety impacts of fatigue; and
(vi) procedures for preventing fatigue, for example, incident reporting.
(h) Refresher training shall be provided at appropriate intervals and include the criteria
listed in Section 2(g) of this CoP.
(i) Employers shall maintain a record of the required training that contains the following:
(i) name and ID number;
(ii) Emirates ID number of the employee;
(iii) subject(s) of training;
(iv) date(s) of training; and
(v) person providing the training.

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3. Requirements
3.1 Roles and Responsibilities
(a) Employers and Employees shall undertake their roles and responsibilities in
accordance with the specific requirements of this CoP and the general requirements
of
ADOSH-SF – Element 1 – Roles, Responsibilities and Self-Regulation
3.1.1 Drivers
(a) All drivers have a duty not to drive or continue to drive a commercial vehicle whilst
impaired or likely to be impaired by fatigue.
(b) Any driver believing that he is impaired or likely to be impaired by fatigue must report
his impairment or possible impairment to the “Responsible Person” within the entity.
3.1.2 Employers
(a) The employer of any driver must take all reasonable steps to ensure that their
business practices or policies will not cause, either through their acts or omissions, the
driver to:
(i) drive on the road, or within any workplace whilst impaired by fatigue; or
(ii) drive whilst in breach of any working hours or rest hours regulations.
(b) The employer shall put in place a Fatigue Risk Management Program (FRMP) and
appoint the Responsible Person to manage it.
(c) The employer must put in place a program to ensure drivers are fit to perform work
duties and also have the required medical assessment in accordance with
ADOSH-SF –
CoP 5.0 - Occupational Health Screening and Medical Surveillance.
3.1.3 Schedulers
(a) The Scheduler of a Driver’s work activities must take all reasonable steps to ensure
that a Driver’s schedule and or roster of duties will not cause, either through act or
omission, the Driver to
(i) drive on the road, or within any workplace whilst impaired by fatigue; or
(ii) drive whilst in breach of any working hours or rest hours regulations.
(b) In developing the schedules and rosters, the scheduler is required to take into account:
(i) any other work duties that the Driver is required to perform; and
(ii) any traffic delays or other delays (for example such as loading and unloading)
that could be reasonably expected.

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3.1.4 Duties of Other Persons
(a) No other person may require, direct or coerce a driver or other party with duties under
this CoP, to do something that that person knows, or reasonably should know, would
have the effect of causing the Driver to:
(i) drive on the road, or within a workplace whilst impaired by fatigue; or
(ii) drive whilst in breach of any working hours or rest hours regulations.
3.2 Fatigue Risk Management Program
(a) Each entity that employs or procures the services of a driver is required to develop,
document and implement a suitable and sufficient Fatigue Risk Management Program
(FRMP). The purpose of the FRMP is to enable the entity to demonstrate that they
have identified driver fatigue risk factors, and developed and implemented
appropriate controls. The FRMP must also demonstrate that they have procedures in
place to monitor effectiveness of these controls and where necessary introduce
corrective actions.
(b) As a minimum requirement the entity FRMP must address the following key elements:
(i) fatigue management policy;
(ii) process for fatigue risk identification, assessment and establishment of
controls, in accordance with
ADOSH-SF – Element 2 – Risk Management;
(iii) documented fatigue risk education program as required in Section 2.0 of this
document;
(iv) investigation and reporting of driving fatigue incidents as required by
ADOSH-
SF – Mechanism 11 – Incident Notification, Investigation and Reporting;
(v) audit and inspection program to ensure implementation of the fatigue risk
controls, as per
ADOSH-SF – Element 8 – Audit and Inspection; and
(vi) relevant requirements of
ADOSH-SF - CoP 44.0 – Traffic Management and
Logistics.
(c) As minimum controls, the FRMP must include:
(i) measures for the scheduling of drivers duties (Section 3.4); and
(ii) measures to ensure that needs of night workers are taken into account in any
employer provided accommodation (Section 3.5).

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3.3 Fatigue Management Policy
(a) The fatigue management policy that is approved by top management, documented
and made available to interested parties must contain a commitment from the top
management to:
(i) nominate a Responsible Person to oversee the requirements of the FRMP;
(ii) provide sufficient resources;
(iii) take steps to identify areas of fatigue risk;
(iv) provide a commitment to avoid/reduce the risks associated with fatigue;
(v) ensure that appropriate controls are identified and implemented;
(vi) provide suitable and sufficient training;
(vii) ensure that incidents are adequately investigated to determine if fatigue was
an influencing factor; and
(viii) assess drivers’ fitness for work.
3.4 Schedules and Rosters
(a) It is a requirement that all schedules and rosters are organized in accordance with any
regulations and legal requirements for working hours for drivers carrying different
transport operations (long-distance / highway duty, cabs, local buses, pick & drop
transport, etc.). Schedules must be arranged to ensure that there is adequate provision
for rest.
(b) To reduce the risk of fatigue the following measures should also be considered as part
of the scheduling of the Drivers duties:
(i) set schedules that minimize periods of night driving;
(ii) set schedules that avoid departures before 5am;
(iii) plan flexible schedules that allow time for driving and breaks at times and
locations where it is most appropriate;
(iv) split trips into shorter continuous driving periods between breaks;
(v) develop schedules in consultation with the drivers or drivers representatives;
(vi) allow flexibility within schedules that allow for unforeseen circumstances that
may require changes to schedules;
(vii) require drivers to comply with agreed schedules rather than rush to complete
the task in a shorter time;
(viii) ensure that sufficient time is allocated for rest and acclimatization where drivers
are required to significantly change shift patterns, for example moving between
day and night shifts;
(ix) establish procedures for corrective action and re-scheduling when a driver has
been required to work outside of a planned schedule; and
(x) make sure that all drivers within an organization are scheduled using the same
requirements; this includes part-time, relief or contracted drivers.

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(c) Rosters must be arranged so as to also ensure that the opportunity for a driver to have
a good quality of sleep is maximized to enable recovery from the potential effects or
onset of fatigue by:
(i) Arranging work rosters to be as regular as possible;
(ii) Ensuring that where possible non-regular or alternating rosters should be
planned with start times to go forwards in time rather than backwards; and
(iii) Ensuring that when drivers return from periods of absence such as leave, time
is allowed for them to adapt to longer working hours or working at night by
starting with day rosters where possible.
3.5 Employer Supplied Accommodation
(a) All employer provided accommodation is required to comply with the requirements as
specified in
ADOSH-SF - CoP 18.0 - Employer Supplied Accommodation - General
Requirements.
(b) Where accommodation is provided by an employer, the employer must take reasonable
steps to ensure that the needs of Night Workers are taken into account to facilitate
adequate rest.
(c) Factors for assessing the suitability of employer supplied accommodation for night
workers include, but are not limited to:
(i) providing suitable window coverings to prevent light penetration;
(ii) the organization and allocation of shared rooms to avoid disturbance of night
time workers by day time workers;
(iii) arrangements for cleaning, maintenance etc to avoid disturbance of night time
workers;
(iv) taking steps to reduce noise within accommodation to avoid disturbance of
night time workers; and
(v) ensuring adequate provisions to ensure thermal comfort of the accommodation
for ease of sleep.

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4. Record Keeping
(a) All drivers are required to keep a record of their working hours, including periods of
driving, breaks, and non-work time (rest days etc). These records must be kept in
accordance with requirements set by the relevant authority regulation Transport
Sector or other legal stipulations.
(b) The responsible person is required to ensure that there is a record for each driver
within the entity, and that this record is set out in a clear and systematic manner.
(c) Training records are required to be retained for a period of at least 5 years.

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5. References
According to the latest issued:
•
The Working Time Directive, 2003/88/EC
•
Federal Law (21) of 1995
•
Government of Western Australia Department of Commerce, Code of
Practice - fatigue management for commercial vehicle drivers 2004.

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6. Document Amendment Record
Version Revision Date Description of Amendment
Page/s Affected
4.0
15th July 2024
System acronym updated from OSHAD-SF
to ADOSH-SF to accurately reflect
document title
Throughout
Change from OSHAD to ADPHC
Change of Logo
Minor editorial changes throughout the
document without changing requirements.
Title of Mechanism 7.0 updated to ADOSH-
SF – Mechanism 7– Occupational Safety
and Health Practitioner and Service
Provider Registration
OSHAD-SF - Mechanism 8.0 - OSH
Practitioner Registration deleted

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