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

  • Tackling Indian road safety
    December 5, 2012
    India’s road safety record is the world’s worst but there are plans to tackle the problems. Patrick Smith reports from New Delhi. A speeded up video of a short section of road in the Indian capital Delhi was followed by a question. “How many infringements did you count in that 25-second clip on a typical day in Delhi,” asked Dr Rohit Baluja, a question that brought understandable silence. It equated to hundreds of millions of infringements each year, said Dr Baluja, president, Institute of Road Traffic Educ
  • ARTBA forming commission to address transport safety
    October 14, 2016
    The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is forming an independent commission to help implement the new, industry-developed “Safety Certification for Transportation Project Professionals (SCTPP) programme. The SCTPP Commission will be led by the chief executive officers of two of the largest transportation construction firms in the United States. Both are passionate safety advocates. David Walls, president & CEO of Austin Industries, based in Dallas, Texas, and Ross Myers, chairma
  • ARTBA's concern
    February 6, 2012
    The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is voicing opposition to a proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to tighten ozone standards.
  • US road safety is a cause for concern
    September 6, 2021
    There is concern over a worrying trend in US road safety, while there have been steady gains in road safety in Europe