Transcript Workzone safety (Final 05-01-09)

Work Zone Safety and
Traffic Management
Alazar Tesfaye, PE
Traffic Operations Engineer
Colorado DOT
Transportation Systems Management and
Operations Division
Rahel Desalegne, PE, PTOE
Senior Traffic/ITS Engineer
TranSmart Technologies, Inc.
Safe Roads To Health
First ERA-EEO Transportation and Safety Symposium
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, December 30, 2014
What is a Work Zone?
 A designated area on a street or highway where
construction is taking place.
 “An area of a traffic-way where construction,
maintenance, or utility work activities are identified
by warning signs/signals/indicators, including those
on transport devices that mark the beginning and
end of a construction, maintenance, or utility work
activity…signals” FHWA
Importance of Work Zone Safety and
Traffic Management
 Injury and fatality exposures are higher in highway work
zones for workers, motorist and pedestrians
 Work zone traffic control/management influences
drivers’ perception of risk
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Provides information on potential hazards
Minimizes aggressive behavior
Assists in navigation
Keep work zones safe for workers, motorist and
pedestrians.
Importance of Work Zone Safety and
Traffic Management
 Work Zone Temporary Traffic Control (TTC) and
management are used to improve safety in work zones
 TTC combines highway/traffic engineering features with
what rational drivers expectation
 TTC considers:
 Various age groups of drivers and pedestrians
 Complexity of work zone information handling
 Limited capability of humans for detecting, processing,
and remembering information
Work Zone Challenges
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Construction worker & road user safety
Work zone congestion & delay
Roadway capacity & speed reductions
Alternate routing & travel route
availability
 Day & night time condition
awareness
 Traffic pattern changes
 Incident management
Types of Work Zones
 Each Work zone is different
 Many variables affect the needs of each work zone:
Location of work
Duration of work
Highway type
Geometrics
» Vertical and horizontal alignment,
intersections, interchanges, etc.
 Road user volumes
» Road vehicle mix (buses, trucks, and cars)
and road user speeds
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Type of Work Zones
 Major factor in determining the number and types of devices used in
Temporary Traffic Control (TTC) zones
 As per the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), five
categories of work duration are defined:
 Long-term stationary is work that occupies a location more than 3 days
 Intermediate-term stationary is work that occupies a location more
than one daylight period up to 3 days, or nighttime work lasting more
than 1 hour
 Short-term stationary is daytime work that occupies a location for more
than 1 hour within a single daylight period
 Short duration is work that occupies a location up to 1 hour
 Mobile is work that moves intermittently or continuously.
Long Term Stationary Work
(more than 3 days)
 Typically utilize a full range of TTC procedures and
devices
 TTC elements may include:
» Larger channelizing devices, temporary roadways,
and temporary traffic barriers
» Retro reflective and/or illuminated devices
Source: www.ncdot.org
Intermediate-Term Stationary Work
(up to 3 days, or nighttime work lasting
more than 1 hour)
 May not be practical to use the same procedures or
devices for long-term stationary TTC zones, such as
altered pavement markings, temporary traffic
barriers, and temporary roadways.
 Increased time to place and remove these devices could
significantly lengthen the project, thus increasing
exposure time.
Intermediate-Term Stationary Work
Source: www.elcosh.org
Short-Term Stationary Work
(more than 1 hour within a single daylight period)
 Most maintenance and utility operations are
short-term stationary work
 Devices having greater mobility might be necessary
» Signs mounted on trucks
» Use channelizing cones
 Appropriately colored or marked vehicles with
rotating/strobe lights may be used in place of signs
and channelizing devices
» May be augmented with signs or arrow panels
Short-Term Stationary Work
Source: www.abcosafety.com
Mobile Work Zone
 Often involve frequent short stops for activities
 Such as pavement marking, litter cleanup, pothole patching,
or utility operations, and are similar to short-duration
operations
 TTC zones may includes:
 Warning signs, high-intensity rotating, flashing, oscillating,
or strobe lights on a vehicle, flags, and/or channelizing
devices
 Flaggers
 A shadow vehicle equipped with an arrow panel or a sign
following the work vehicle
Mobile Work Zone
www.workzone.eng.wayne.edu
Work Zone Traffic Control Guidelines
 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)
provides minimum Federal requirements
 Various demanding situations may warrant enhanced safety
precautions, such as:
 Nighttime work
 Inclement weather conditions
 Unusual roadway geometry and environment
 Combinations of the above
 Going beyond existing standards/guidelines may be
necessary to ensure highest levels of traffic and worker safety
Work Zone Traffic Control Guidelines
 MUTCD provides clear guidance
Work Zone Elements
 Advance warning area
 Transition area
 Buffer space
 Activity (work) area
 Termination area
Work Zone Elements
 Advance warning area
 Advises drivers about what
to expect in the upcoming
work zone area or areas
Work Zone Elements
 Transition area
 Redirect traffic from a
normal traffic flow to a new
flow
Work Zone Elements
 Buffer space
 Provides protection for
workers
Work Zone Elements
 Activity area
 The area where work takes
place which may also
include a “lateral” buffer
space.
Work Zone Elements
 Termination area
 Shall be used to return road
users to their normal path
 Shall extend from the
downstream end of the work
area to the last TTC device
Worker Safety Considerations
 Key elements that SHOULD be considered
to improve worker safety:
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Training
Worker safety apparel
Temporary reflective traffic barriers
Speed reduction measures
Planning of activity area
Planning for worker safety
Worker safety apparel
Workers Safety
What’s wrong in this picture?
Workers Safety
What’s wrong in this picture?
Flagger Safety
What’s wrong
in these pictures?
Transportation Management Plan
 Objective is:
 Ensures the safety of road users and workers
 “Transportation Management Plan (TMP) lays out a set
of strategies for managing the work zone impacts of a
project” FHWA
 Shows how traffic will be managed during construction
 Required on ALL Federal-aid projects
 Scalable to the type of project being considered
TMP Contents
 Transportation Management Plans (TMP)
 Required on all projects
 Temporary Traffic Control Plan (TTCP)
 Transportation Operations Plan (TOP)
 Public Information Plan (PIP)
 Significant Project
 TTCP, TOP and PIP Required
 Non-Significant Project
 TTCP Required
 TOP and PIP Recommended
TMP Development
 TMP development begins in the project planning and
scoping phase
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Involves planning and design staff
Incorporates big picture issues
Further details as project progresses
Allows more accurate programming and budgets
» Maintaining traffic schemes (Temporary structure for maintaining
traffic, crossovers, etc.)
» Temporary ITS applications
» Coordination with corridor and network projects
TMP Implementation
 Performance
 Performance monitoring
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Worksite trailers
Travel time
Queues
Cameras / Detectors
 Crashes
» How much did accidents decrease because of mitigation measures and
comparable projects
» Did accident severity decrease
 Measurements versus expectations
» How did actual measured delay compare with expected delay (travel time,
queues)
 Project documentation
Employers' Responsibility
 On the worksite:
 Always keep other workers in mind
 Set up a means of communication with workers
around you
 Never allow unauthorized workers to ride on
equipment
 Make Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) a
requirement to all workers (ie. Reflective vest, hart
hat, etc.)
Employee’s Responsibility
 Know the Job!
 Know the internal traffic control plan
 Know the work zone and your position in it
 Use designated equipment routes and areas
 Identify rollover hazards such as unleveled areas,
embankments, and unstable soil
Employee’s Responsibility
 Put into practice all
training provided by
the employer
 Always wear high
visibility clothing
and other PPE as
required
Safety Awareness
 As a motorist:
 Pay attention to the orange
diamond shaped warning signs
 Stay alert
 Minimize distractions
 Follow posted speed limits
 Be prepared for the unexpected
Source: www.wdot.wa.gov
Additional Information
 American Society of Safety Engineers
 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
 National Institute of Occupational Safety and
Health
 Federal Highway Administration
 Federal OSHA
Thank you
Questions?