Journey Management: A Strategic Approach to Reducing Your Workers’ Greatest Risk

Abstract

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. oil and gas extraction workers; the motor vehicle fatality rate in this industry is 8.5 times higher than for all U.S. workers (Retzer et al., 2013). This may be due to a variety of factors, including long work hours and long distances traveled, often on rural roads which may lack safety features. There are four main strategies for reducing the number of work-related motor vehicle fatalities: 1) reduce the risk of injury by reducing the total amount of travel, 2) substitute the means of travel (e.g., road vs. air), to reduce the level of risk to the worker, 3) reduce the risks for necessary road travel, and 4) reduce crash severity, thereby reducing injury severity. Journey management is a promising prevention strategy to reduce the total number of miles driven and to reduce the risks associated with road travel. Journey management is accomplished through company policies and procedures that systematically question the need for trips and select the safest routes, driving conditions, drivers, and vehicles for necessary road travel. Many oil and gas companies have implemented a journey management procedure to protect their workers and assets. As a result of the success of journey management, the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) recommends that all oil and gas extraction companies implement a journey management procedure as part of an overall land transportation safety program (OGP 2011a). However, the application of journey management is somewhat limited in the U.S. and there appears to be a need for more clarification of journey management and the elements of a journey management procedure. This paper will define journey management, describe the elements of a journey management procedure, and describe the steps to develop a journey management procedure tailored to your company’s driving environment.1

On the road again: A cross‐sectional survey examining work schedules, commuting time, and driving‐related outcomes among U.S. oil and gas extraction workers

“…12 When necessary trips are taken, employers select the safest method, route, vehicle, and driver. 66 In this analysis, workers whose employers did not have journey management policies were more likely to report feeling drowsy more than once a month while driving at work (only in bivariate analysis) or having fallen asleep while driving at work. There is some evidence that journey management combined with other road safety approaches reduces miles driven and crash exposure.…”

“…Journey management, an approach to managing crash risk by systematically evaluating the necessity of road travel, is widely implemented internationally in the OGE industry 12 . When necessary trips are taken, employers select the safest method, route, vehicle, and driver 66 . In this analysis, workers whose employers did not have journey management policies were more likely to report feeling drowsy more than once a month while driving at work (only in bivariate analysis) or having fallen asleep while driving at work.…”