Keeping Highways Safer for Motorists, Workers

Industry, organizations campaign to stop work-zone tragedies

By Mary Lou Jay

Who wouldn’t want to watch the action? Motorist distraction, however, is a serious highway safety issue, according to TxDOT. Programs such as National Work Zone Awareness Week and TxDOT’s “Give Us A Brake” campaign aim to keep highway workers safe. Photo courtesy of TxDOT.

Donnie Connell, heavy division safety manager at Zachry Construction Co. of San Antonio, likens working on a highway construction project to laying carpet in an office with all the furniture in it and all normal activities taking place.

“With most highway jobs today, you’re talking about little open country,” he says. “Most of the work is refurbishing existing roads, which means you have strict space limitations, and you have to keep the road open to traffic, too.” 

Keeping motorists and workers safe in such tight work zones is a problem, especially Texas, which has more highway miles to maintain than any other state. Figures compiled by the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration’s fatality reporting system show that Texas leads the nation in the number of fatalities that occur in highway work zones.

“In 2006, there were a total of 1,004 fatalities in work zones nationally; 146 of those occurred in Texas,” says Dr. Gerald Ullman, senior research engineer at the Texas Transportation Institute. “In 2007, there were a total of 835 fatalities nationally; 124 of those occurred in Texas.”

TxDOT identifies excessive speed and inattentive driving as the two leading causes of work-zone crashes. “Our field employees have indicated to us that motorist distraction is a serious problem,” says Jerral Wyer, TxDOT safety director. “Their number-one fear in a work zone is of being hit by a third-party motorist.”

The highway construction industry helps educate motorists and persuade them to drive more carefully in work zones through programs such as the National Work Zone Awareness Week and TxDOT’s “Give Us A Brake” campaign.

advertisement

Improving work zone safety The Texas Transportation Institute conducts studies throughout the nation on different techniques, strategies and technologies to improve safety in work zones.

“In Texas in recent years, there has been a big emphasis on studies to try to find better ways of managing speeds in work zones through different devices such as speed-display trailers; improved use of portable, changeable messaging signs; and drone radar,” Ullman says. “Unfortunately the effectiveness of all of these things tends to achieve reductions of only a couple of miles per hour-up to 5 mph generally. They also tend to lose their effectiveness pretty quickly.”

The best speed reducer is a law enforcement presence at the worksite, usually off-duty officers in Texas. “Generally, TxDOT may require this when there are lane closures at night on high-speed facilities,” Ullman adds.

Concrete median barriers to separate workers from traffic are not always possible, especially on short-term jobs. Education provides a strong line of defense in protecting workers and improving highway safety.

Another proven safety measure is the use of concrete median barriers to separate workers from traffic. “But that’s not always possible on short-term jobs, especially maintenance,” Wyer says. 

“One of the devices that we’ve found most effective is a truck-mounted attenuator with arrow board. This is visible from a long distance, and if a motorist makes an error and runs over cones in the work zones, the truck is the last line of defense to protect workers in that zone.”

But safety devices can’t reduce accidents if they’re not used. “Historically, low bid numbers are what win a project, and traffic control was treated as an extra,” Ullman says. “Contractors who believed there was a need [for special safety measures] or who wanted to use some new technology could not do so without jeopardizing their bid because they would be higher than their competitor who wasn’t going to do that.”

Recently adopted rules that require contractors working on federal projects to comply with several federal highway safety regulations should help level the playing field.

Addressing other hazards Accidents involving motorists are the most publicized reason for work-zone accidents but they are not the only cause. Falls, lifting, excavations and heavy equipment are all a source of worker injury during highway construction.

The Associated General Contractors of Texas has developed a tool to inform highway workers about these dangers. “We made a video based on the most frequent hazards that you would encounter if you entered a work zone,” says Zachry’s Connell, who chairs the AGC’s Safety & Health committee. “We filmed actual work zones and employees on the job.”

The Highway Construction Work Zone Hazards DVD covers traffic issues but also topics such as safety around heavy equipment, entering and exiting work zones and personal protective equipment. It can be used by contractors, vendors or anyone else who has employees who work in or enter a highway construction site.

Educating the public and the workforce is the best way to make highway construction zones safer, Connell says. “It’s a communications process, and the more that motorists and workers understand, the safer they’re likely to be,” he adds.

That’s especially important if the Obama administration increases infrastructure spending. “We’re going to have a lot more work zones again, and we need to reiterate the importance of being safe and making sure that the folks that are doing this new work are properly trained,” Ullman says.

“When previous highway bills really ramped up spending, we saw a sharp jump in the number of fatalities. I think we’re going to get new people in the industry, and it’s going to be a big challenge to make sure that these folks know to wear all the equipment and know what the proper procedures are to make sure they and the traveling public are safe.”