The myriad of roles, duties, and responsibilities involved in being the site leader or boss of a construction site can sometimes be more than a little stressful and downright overwhelming, but when that worksite is at the side of a busy A road or motorway, then safety is also of even more optimum priority.
Whether you are currently working on a project alongside a busy main road or else regularly receive contract requests to do just that, then continue reading to learn all about how to be legally compliant when running a roadway work site.
The Definition Of ‘Legally Compliant’
Essentially, the term ‘legally compliant’ is the official way a company, not just relating to the construction and building industry, adheres to an exceedingly detailed and strict set of rules, conditions, requests, specifications, orders, and rules in order for them to continue their work.
When contracted to work on a road, or even at the side of the road, there is a wide plethora of different legal ‘hoops’ one has to jump through, not just for legal compliance but also to ensure safety and security in and around the site.
Lighting & Signage Are Fundamental
One of the primary areas of importance that you and your employees must ensure you are always on the lookout for and maintaining is that if the lighting is functioning correctly and that all lights are positioned correctly and in place. It is strongly advisable, therefore, to invest in top-quality lighting for any working vehicles, such as Beacons and lightbars, which can act as a hazard warning for both approaching pedestrians and cars.
Not only do you and your company as a whole have a moral obligation to display proper lighting throughout the entirety of the site for those working alongside or under you, but it is also a legal obligation to ensure all signage and lighting is clear for all to see, from all sides of the road and on-site.
Traffic Control
Wherever possible, your legal obligation as a site manager is to ensure that you provide adequate and wholly unobstructed width to still allow two-way traffic to safely pass. If such unobstructed widths can simply not be provided, you should refer to the appropriate signage and lane restriction guidelines to check how to safely proceed.
From portable traffic signals, lights, and speed reduction signs to priority and give and take advisory directives, each individual roadway worksite must be considered individually to best ascertain which traffic control methods are the best to select.
Site Maintenance
Naturally, those roadway worksites which you have worked on in the past which are always attended to, either by a security guard or else two or more members of your own workforce, will be more maintained and checked than those which are left unattended during the night and early hours of the morning.
It is the state’s responsibility to send workers out to regularly check the installed traffic control features, along with important other fundamentals, such as:
- Changing weather conditions
- Results of previous walkarounds
- Persistent vandalism
- Nearby road closures
- A high volume of pedestrians nearby
- Exposed services and other potential risks on-site
