Two new resources—one on work-zone intrusions and the other on roadside clean-up—offer strategies to help keep local agency staff safe on the job.
In 2024, the OSHA Roadway Work Zone Alliance published a new 22-page guide titled A Guide to Preventing Work Zone Intrusions: Best Practices for Mitigating, Controlling and Minimizing the Effects of Work Zone Intrusions.
This new resource is intended to be used as a template for industry organizations to build their own document with company- or organization-specific information and images. Organizations should consider state and local agency policies to ensure their version aligns with these recommendations.
Vehicle intrusion incidents occur when a vehicle enters the work area. Work-zone intrusions are a significant cause of worker deaths and injuries in the roadway and transportation construction industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on average, 60 industry workers are killed annually from being struck by vehicles and equipment in roadway construction zones.
While intrusions may be due to driver recklessness, inattention, distraction, or impairment, they may also result from improper temporary traffic control. Controls should not rely on the motorists’ assessment of a situation and may need to go beyond the plans and specifications outlined in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
This guidance document provides a set of coordinated transportation management strategies and describes how they might be used to manage the work zone during roadway construction projects. Transportation management strategies for a work zone include temporary traffic control measures and devices, safe work practices, training, planning and coordination, and worker protection.
Some examples of the information in the guide include:
- Safe work best practices
- Innovative technology solutions
- Equipment and vehicle considerations and recommendations
- Direct charge eligibility
- Payment procedures for transportation management planning
A second resource, developed by the University of New Hampshire Technology Transfer Center, offers roadside clean-up tips and advice.
This time of year is the perfect time to complete roadside cleanup. Most trash on the side of the road is not hazardous; however, some items can pose dangers. The tips and advice in the one-page document can help make roadside cleanup as safe as possible. It covers dead animal removal and litter clean-up hazards such as meth lab waste, needles, and fentanyl.