Skip to main content

Innovation to drive US work zone death cuts

Innovation must drive new strategies to reduce the near 600 deaths and 40,000 injuries that occur annually in US roadway construction zones, according to a leading American highway industry association figure. Speaking during the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) Brad Sant, ARTBA’s top safety expert, said: “Just last week, ARTBA renewed its innovative alliance with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and industry partne
April 25, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Workzones on highway projects present major safety risks to on-site personnel according to ARTBA.
Innovation must drive new strategies to reduce the near 600 deaths and 40,000 injuries that occur annually in US roadway construction zones, according to a leading American highway industry association figure.

Speaking during the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) Brad Sant, ARTBA’s top safety expert, said: “Just last week, ARTBA renewed its innovative alliance with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and industry partners. The alliance is unique in that it includes multiple federal agencies, organised labour, representation from state agencies and employer associations—all working together to ensure our workplaces are safer for all involved.”

The 2012 NWZAW, running until April 27, 2012, kicked-off with an April 23 national news conference at a Route 141 construction zone in St. Louis.  The event, hosted by the 2699 Missouri Department of Transportation, aimed to publicly highlight the safety risks for motorists and workers associated with driving through these sites. 

Sant, ARTBA’s senior vice president of safety and education, also highlighted a new course, ‘Preventing Runovers and Backovers’, developed in partnership with OSHA and the 5159 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), as a first-of-its-kind programme to address the problem of ‘struck-by’ incidents in roadway construction. 

“For over a decade the industry has identified runovers and backovers as the primary safety concern for our workers,” said Sant. “Now, with backing from OSHA and NIOSH, ARTBA is providing the industry with the first, comprehensive course to address the problem, and we are giving away this training and material for free.”

Related Content

  • Road safety improvement for the US
    December 11, 2012
    The US is seeing improvements in road safety overall, with a drop in road crash statistics for 2011. The data for 2011 is encouraging and the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a new analysis indicating that highway deaths fell to 32,367 in 2011. This marked the lowest level of road related fatalities since 1949, 1.9% decrease from the previous year. Furthermore, this updated 2011 data show the historic downward trend in recent years continu
  • Mixed US transportation outlook for 2012 according to ARTBA
    April 26, 2012
    The outlook for the 2012 transportation construction market is mixed, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA). The 2012 Transportation Construction Market forecast from ARTBA shows that the industry will face uncertain times during next year.
  • Road safety training partnership in Africa and South America
    February 14, 2012
    The World Bank Global Road Safety Facility and IRF work together to reduce the toll of road deaths and serious injuries in low and middle-income countries
  • The cost of crashes in the US
    May 25, 2023
    The financial cost of road crashes in the US places a heavy burden