Working Hours (Hansard, 8 July 1988)

§ Mr. David Mitchell

The restrictions on working hours for the occupations listed are:

(a) Aircraft Pilots

The Civil Aviation Authority is responsible for the regulation of aircraft pilots' working hours in accordance with the Air Navigation Order 1985.

The order requires that no member of the flight crew may fly for more than 100 hours in any consecutive 28-day period or more than 900 hours during the period of 12 months expiring at the end of the previous month.

Furthermore the order requires operators to establish a scheme for the regulation of flight times and that scheme must be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority. The authority provides guidelines to enable operators to develop acceptable schemes. The guidelines cover such matters as single or multiple crew, aeroplane or helicopter, 792W rest periods, standby duty, days off, extended range operations by two pilots, delayed reporting times, acclimatisation to local time, and the records that must be kept.

The order also states that a person shall not act as a member of the crew of an aircraft if he knows or suspects that he is suffering from or is likely to suffer from such fatigue as may endanger the safety of the aircraft or its occupants.

(b) Heavy Goods Vehicle Drivers

Most heavy goods vehicle drivers are subject to the European Community rules on driving and rest contained in EC Regulation 3820/85. This requires 45 hours of continuous rest in a week and 11 hours continuous rest in any period of 24 hours. Driving is limited to nine hours a day (with an increase to 10 hours permitted twice in any week) and 90 hours in a fortnight.

Drivers exempt from the above rules, mainly those who carry out short-distance national haulage, are subject to the domestic rules applied by the Transport Act 1968, as modified. This limits driving to 10 hours and total work to 11 hours in any period of 24 hours.

There are no statutory restrictions for train drivers' hours of duty. Agreements between the railway management and the Trade Unions limit drivers to 39 hours' duty per week. Flexible rostering arrangements mean that drivers are on duty between seven to nine hours per day.

(d) Shipping Crews

The Merchant Shipping (Certification and Waterkeeping) Regulations 1982 impose a requirement that all watchkeepers should be adequately rested and fit for duty when going on watch. The new agreement between P&O European Ferries and the ratings employed on its ships operating out of Dover limits the hours that a rating can be required to work to 14 in any period of 24. At least six hours of the rest period must be consecutive. No other new agreement embodies a restriction on hours of work.