Photo: Earl Dotter.

Work Zone Safety

Highway repair and construction are a major source of contracts and work for LIUNA signatory employers and Laborers. Unfortunately, highway work zones are among the most dangerous worksites in the construction industry.

Improving work zone safety is an important focus of the work of the LHSFNA. In this, the Fund works in partnership with other organizations with a stake in work zone safety.

One key partnership consists of the LHSFNA plus the Laborers-AGC Education and Training Fund, the American Road & Transportation Builders’ Association (ARTBA), the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Texas Transportation Institute and CNA Insurance.  With a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)grant, the partners are expanding the content of the innovative Roadway Safety Program – a 14-part, multimedia, English, Spanish and Portuguese review of the major hazards and worker protections in road construction.  The partnership is also implementing plans to extend roadway safety training across the country.

Working in another partnership, the Fund helped develop a brochure that promotes the value of “positive separation” – the use of Jersey barriers, water-filled barriers or truck-mounted attenuators to maintain separation between traffic flow and the workforce.

Similarly, the Fund is advancing the importance of Internal Traffic Control Plans (ITCPs) as the best way to manage vehicular movements within the work zone. Data show that almost a third of workers killed in work zones are struck by a dump truck or other construction vehicle.

The Fund also encourages engineering solutions to work zone hazards. One example is the J-4 Flagger Workstation, invented by LIUNA Local Union 477 member Rick Heinz, himself a flagger. The J-4 allows the flagger to operate a large, mechanical signal paddle by remote control.

Unfortunately, we’ve yet to turn the corner on work zone safety. Work zone fatalities continue to rise. Of necessity, therefore, the Fund continues to apply itself to finding remedies that will protect the lives of workers and the driving public.

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