What is a journey risk assessment?
A journey risk assessment looks at one planned road trip before it starts: what could go wrong on this route, at this time, with this driver and this load, and what you will do about it. It is the core of a journey management process, which the oil and gas producers' association IOGP describes in its recommended practice 365-19.
The tool rates each hazard for likelihood and severity on a 1 to 5 scale, multiplies the two into a score from 1 to 25, and does it twice: as things stand, and with your controls in place. The highest score after controls sets the journey's risk level and, from your settings, who approves it.
Why assess each journey, not just each route?
- The same route changes risk: a trip that is Low in the morning can be High when it runs into darkness, a dust storm or a wadi in flood.
- Approval follows the risk: a routine trip needs the journey manager; a remote night trip needs a senior decision before departure, not after an incident.
- Controls have to show: scoring before and after controls makes clear which control brought the risk down, so it is not dropped on the day.
- Driving time is part of the risk: distance, breaks and darkness come from the trip plan, so the trip tab works them out from your own limits.
What do you need?
| Input | Where to find it | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Hazards on the route | Route survey, previous trips, drivers who know the road | Rate only hazards the trip really has; mark the rest “Does not apply”. |
| Likelihood and severity | The rating scales above the hazards | Rate as a team: the journey manager and the driver together. |
| Risk bands and approvers | Your journey management procedure or your client's standard | Keep the same bands for every journey so levels can be compared. |
| Distance and average speed | Route plan, tracking history of the same trip | Use the average including slow sections, not the speed limit. |
| Sunset and sunrise | Any sunrise and sunset table for the route and date | In the Gulf they move by more than an hour between summer and winter. |
| Driving limits | Your authority's rules, the Driving and Rest Hours Checker | Apply the stricter of the authority's and your client's rules. |
How is journey risk calculated?
Score of each hazard
Both ratings run from 1 to 5, so a score runs from 1 to 25. When a hazard has no rating after controls, the tool keeps its score now and marks it with an asterisk, so the journey level is never understated.
Journey level and approval
The default band starts (Medium 5, High 10, Extreme 20) and approvers are the editable examples in Safee's Journey Management Plan template. They are not a standard: replace them with your own procedure or your client's.
Trip time and darkness
The default limits, 45 minutes of break after 4.5 hours of driving and 9 hours of driving a day, are the Saudi TGA limits as reported in the Saudi press and used by the Driving and Rest Hours Checker, reviewed October 2026. Sunset, sunrise, distance and speed are your inputs. The tool uses no other outside figures.
Sources
- IOGP Report 365-19, Land transportation safety recommended practice: journey management, August 2020. Source: IOGP.
- Default risk bands, rating scales and approvers: Safee Journey Management Plan template (editable examples).
- Driving limits: TGA rules as reported (Okaz and Ajel, January 2023; Al Yaum, July 2018), as listed on the Driving and Rest Hours Checker. Last reviewed 21 October 2026.
Worked example: a 520 km afternoon trip to a desert site
The defaults are examples: a single crew vehicle leaving at 14:00 for a work site 520 km away, part of it on a desert track with no mobile coverage. Replace them with your own journey.
- Nine hazards apply. Before controls the highest is night driving at 4 × 4 = 16, which is High.
- Planned controls, such as leaving earlier, a satellite tracking device, a fit-for-duty declaration and a second vehicle, bring every score down. Night driving falls from 16 to 8.
- After controls the highest score is distance from medical help at 3 × 3 = 9, so the journey is Medium and needs the journey manager and supervisor to approve it.
- Trip tab: 520 km at 75 km/h is 6:56 of driving, which needs 1 break of 45 minutes. With 30 minutes of other stops the trip takes 8:11 and arrives at 22:11.
- With darkness from 18:00, 4:11 of the trip, or 51%, is after dark. That is why night driving is rated 4 for likelihood before controls; leaving in the morning would remove most of it.
How to read your results
- The journey level comes from the single worst hazard after controls, not from an average: one Extreme hazard makes the whole trip Extreme.
- The approver is the one you set for that level. If the level is High or Extreme, approval comes before departure.
- Before and after shows which controls matter. A control that brings a score down must be in the journey plan and checked on the day.
- The matrix places each hazard after controls by likelihood and severity. Hazards in the top right corner deserve another control or a different plan.
- Time in darkness tells you how much of the trip runs after sunset with your departure time; move the departure and see it change.
How to lower journey risk
- Change the plan before adding controls: a different departure time, route or day often removes a hazard outright.
- Stay in contact where the network ends: agree call-in points and carry a satellite phone or tracking device. Check what you need with the Satellite Tracking Needs Tool.
- Plan rest from the driving time: plan breaks and daily rest on a long truck trip with the Truck Journey Time Planner, and check the driver's schedule with the Driving and Rest Hours Checker.
- Prepare for weather: use the Extreme Weather Emergency Plan for heat, dust storms and floods.
- Record the plan: keep the journey, its approval and its call-ins in the Journey Management Plan template.
Assumptions and limits
Ratings are judgments made by the people planning the journey; the tool adds no weights of its own and does not know the route. The default bands, approvers and driving limits are examples to replace with your procedure, your client's standard and your authority's current rules. The trip time uses an average speed and the breaks your limits require; it does not include waiting at a site or a breakdown. Time in darkness uses the sunset and sunrise you enter. This is a planning aid, not legal advice or a compliance certificate.