IMPROVING WORK ZONE SAFETY

Work zone safety has become an area of national concern as awareness of risk to workers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicle occupants has grown. Even so, more than 700 people are killed and 37,000 injured each year in road construction site accidents at an annual cost of $3 billion. This article outlines three key steps to improve safety in a work zone. The first advises following the National Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), maintained by the Federal Highway Administration. Its purpose is to set forth basic principles that govern the design and use of traffic control devices in temporary traffic control zones. Step two involves developing traffic control plans to facilitate safe vehicle and pedestrian traffic through a temporary traffic control zone. Step three is to provide training and education. The National Transportation Safety Board has identified critical inadequacies in training as contributing to fatality and accident rates in highway construction zones.