COMPLIANCE
The legal case for fatigue intelligence.
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE
UK employers have a legal duty to manage fatigue risk
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (s.2) requires employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of employees. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require risk assessment of all significant hazards — and fatigue is a recognised hazard in any shift-working environment. Beyond general duties, sector-specific regulations impose additional requirements.
| Sector | Key Regulation | Fatigue Requirement | Enforcer |
|---|---|---|---|
| All employers | HSWA s.2, MHSWR 1999 | General duty to assess and manage fatigue risk | HSE |
| Road transport | EC 561/2006, Working Time Regs | Driving hours limits, rest periods, tachograph compliance | DVSA |
| Rail | ROGS 2006, Reg 25 | Mandatory Fatigue Risk Management System within SMS | ORR |
| Aviation | EASA FTL, CAA requirements | Flight Time Limitations, mandatory fatigue reporting | CAA |
| Nuclear/Energy | ONR licence conditions | Fitness-for-duty, ALARP principle | ONR |
| Healthcare | WTR, junior doctor hour limits | Rest period compliance, working time monitoring | CQC |
CASE LAW
UK courts have established that fatigue management failures carry serious legal consequences
“Renown Consultants — fined £450,000 for fatigue management failure.”
The prosecution demonstrated that the employer had not conducted adequate fatigue risk assessment despite operating safety-critical shift patterns.
“The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 creates personal liability for senior management.”
Where gross negligence in safety management leads to death, fatigue-related workplace fatalities are within scope.
REASONABLY PRACTICABLE
Technology changes the legal standard
The legal standard is not “did you try?” but “did you do everything reasonably practicable?” In 2026, the existence of validated, affordable fatigue prediction technology changes what is reasonably practicable.
An employer who schedules high-fatigue shifts without assessment, when assessment tools exist, faces a materially weaker legal defence than one who uses such tools and acts on their outputs.
RosterWise provides the evidence trail: timestamped risk assessments, documented interventions, and aggregate compliance reports that demonstrate ongoing fatigue risk management.
COMPLIANCE FEATURES
The evidence base your regulator expects
Ghost shift detection
Automated alerts for shifts that fall below adequate recovery thresholds.
Aggregate risk heatmaps
Team, site, and shift-pattern views with no individual data exposed.
Automated compliance reports
Weekly, monthly, or on-demand — generated to your regulator's evidence standard.
Audit trail
Timestamped record of all risk assessments and interventions taken.
HSE RR446 alignment
Transparent scoring using the peer-reviewed published methodology.
Exportable evidence packs
Regulator-ready bundles for inspections and enforcement engagement.