Working Safely on Public Roads
Posted on 31st July 2024 at 11:31
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 state that it is an employer’s duties to ensure the safety of all employees as well as those who can and will be affected by their work activities.
This also extends to work pertaining to public roads, as road works require particular safety standards in order to secure the health and safety of all involved.
A risk assessment must be conducted on the public road work to ensure that any and all hazards associated with it are identified and control measures are put into place to reduce the likelihood and risk of these hazards as far as reasonably possible. Any pre-existing services must be looked into via survey drawings of the area and appropriately located with CAT scanners, marked and sectioned off to avoid the risk of contact with services.

All workers must wear PPE at all times in road works. High-visibility/weatherproof clothing should be worn, including gloves, boots and hi-vis in order to ensure all workers are as visible as possible to each other, the site manager and members of the public, especially if road works occur in darker hours of the day. Welfare facilities must be fully adequate and positioned in a safe and secured location in relation to the public road works.
A traffic light system must be provided in the public road works, especially in roads with a speed limit of 40mph or more, as this can reduce the risk of accidents from occurring via precise traffic control. Signs can also be displayed to reinforce the speed limit and traffic system. Cones also need to be placed around the work areas on the road itself, allowing members of the public to be aware of the activity’s vicinity and avoid it when driving past it. Barriers will also similarly need to be implemented in activities on the road that can affect members of the public if not secured such as tarmac and cement works.
What Can We Learn From This? – Toolbox Talk Details
• A traffic system must be implemented to control the level of traffic surrounding the road works
• Visibility is a priority, so all operatives must wear high-visibility PPE
• Cones and barriers allow sectioning off of road activities
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Tagged as: Construction Safety, Hazards and Risks, Health and Safety Regulations, Risk Assessment control measures
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