Accidents in Highway Work Zones

 

Each year, more than 100 workers are killed and over 20,000 are injured in the highway and street construction industry. Most of these injuries and fatalities occur in what is known as the “work zone.”

What is the “work zone?”
The work zone is an area where highway construction, maintenance, or utility work activities are taking place. What makes this work area dangerous is that passing motorists, construction vehicles, and equipment are moving through the same space that the construction employees are working in.

Accidents
Accidents that occur in work zones are usually caused by:
   - Poor traffic control procedures,
   - Unsatisfactory construction vehicle and equipment maintenance (such as malfunctioning warning devices),
   - Poorly designed work zones, and
   - Failure to establish and follow policies and procedures for ensuring safety on the job.

Vehicles and equipment operating in and around the work zone are involved in over half of the worker fatalities in the heavy and highway construction industry.

Sometimes passing motorists are at fault for the injuries and fatalities that occur in the work zone. Workers are often injured or killed by moving vehicles entering their work zones. Other times, it is the construction vehicles and equipment operating within the work zone that causes the accidents and injuries.

Work zone hazards
There are two basic types of work zone hazards:
   - Internal hazards are activities within the workspace such as moving vehicles.
   - External hazards are ones presented by passing cars and trucks and the debris they kick up.

Potential hazards associated with work zones include:
   - Traffic and construction equipment accidents,
   - Working above level,
   - Slippery conditions,
   - Machinery pinch points,
   - Crush zones,
   - Drop-offs,
   - Trenches,
   - Airborne lead and silica particles,
   - Truck tip-overs, and
   - Energized electrical lines and conductors.

There are many internal and external work zone hazards, but you can avoid them if you think safety first, use procedures required or recommended by regulatory agencies and industry experts, and be alert to situations that might result in accidents.

This information is provided by: Assurance Agency. https://www.assuranceagency.com