The Traffic Management Association of Australia (TMAA) have released their annual Traffic Management summary White Paper.
Since 2020, TMAA have engaged the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) to produce the survey and its findings with the aim of identifying and informing the future needs of the Traffic Management Industry.
The findings reinforce the necessity of RA’s ongoing work to improve the safety of road workers.
In the 2022 survey results, there was an increase to the number of fatalities respondents encountered and the number of respondents encountering 11-20 vehicle accidents.
Any number of vehicle accidents is too many and puts those working on our roads at risk.
While the number of incidents recorded increased it was found that a higher number of respondents suggested that the use of Portable Traffic Control Devices (PTCDs) is positive.
PTCDs are a safer option because they eliminate the need for traffic controllers to be on the road and exposed to the increasing risks.
Even more positive, was the respondent’s perception and experience of the public campaign to decrease driver speed around worksites, ‘Your speed is our safety’, with 56% of respondents believing that the campaign impacted their own driving or that of those driving on their site.
Through RA’s Road Worker Safety Working Group, work to increase the safety of road workers is being done through four pillars:
- Procurement
- Pre-Qualification
- Industry Image and Minimum Standards
- International Standards