It's Roadwork Season - Ensure Worker Safety and Visibility With These Tips

With an ever-increasing number of vehicles on the road and a greater number of work zones to make repairs for that traffic, road construction workers experience a substantially increased risk of injury in work zones than ever before. Fortunately, there are some impactful ways to ensure that roadwork risks can be reduced and/or eliminated:

Plan for Safety by having a competent safety specialist asses the work site and address protective measures in accordance with OSHA and MUTCD.

Clearly Delineate Work Areas and Traffic Areas by ensuring there is enough space between workers and passing vehicles. The type of barriers used depend largely on traffic speed and volume as well as duration of the project. For some work, traffic cones with flaggers can be sufficient, while other work may require temporary traffic barriers or vehicles with attenuators.

Wear Hi-Visibility PPE. It has been shown to significantly decrease injuries by giving vehicle operators increased time to spot and respond to workers in a given work zone. Particualrly at dawn and dusk, when visibility is compromised, fluorescent colors greatly increase worker visibility, Consider additional protection by choosing apparel in high-viz yellow/lime as this helps to differentiate workers from vehicles and other signs, drums in the work zone that are typically orange.

Choose Specialty Items That Bolster Work Zone Safety. Rumble strips which force vehicles to slow down or changeable signs that can be added to standard traffic cones assist in controlling the speed and flow of traffic to ensure safety for workers.