Highway maintenance requires safety awareness and planning.
Highway maintenance can involve a number of hazards to workers. Some of these include passing traffic, injuries and even death. Safety has to be a number one priority and standards for safe work environment must be enforced.
Potential Hazards
Workers are often in danger of being struck by a passing vehicle if working in heavy traffic.
While road construction is at its highest level, approximately 20% of the nation's major highways are being worked on. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration estimates that there is an injury in a work zone every nine minutes (see references 1, p. 1). Heavy traffic, machinery mishaps and other factors can put workers at risk.
Function
Road maintenance workers must wear appropriate high visibility clothing.
OSHA requires that all workers doing highway maintenance must complete safety training. This involves standards and techniques for working around heavy traffic and strategies to reduce their chances of being struck by a vehicle. Learning where to set up equipment and wearing the appropriate high visibility clothing are also discussed (see references one, page five).
Preparation
Proper placement of barriers can help to protect workers.
OSHA mandates that a hazard assessment be completed before work begins (see references one, page 5). Workers must attend an orientation session for that particular site detailing placement of signs, barriers, the emergency action plan and traffic control (see references one, page 6).
Prevention/Solution
High visibility clothing helps workers be seen better by oncoming traffic. Different classes are used based on the job assignment. Class one is florescent orange and for a worker in a low-speed zone who can fully focus on oncoming traffic. Class two clothing is florescent yellow and used in rough weather, for traffic going 25 to 50 miles an hour. Type three clothing is for fluorescent yellow, used in traffic over 50 in miles an hour and when utilizing heavy equipment (see references one, page 7).
Tags: references page, visibility clothing, appropriate high, appropriate high visibility, being struck, high visibility