Managing Work Zone Safety during Road Maintenance and Construction Activities: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

In the US, hundreds of people lose their lives each year, and many more are injured, in street and highway maintenance and construction work zones. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandates the use of temporary traffic control to address overall safety performance in roadway construction and maintenance projects. However, statistics reveal the need to further identify and investigate the main contributing factors to occupational incidents within work zones. This study reviewed work zone fatal incident investigation reports carried out by the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program. The review categorized the reports based on incident nature into internal-source incidents and vehicle intrusion incidents. Accordingly, this study sheds light on the safety of construction workers within road work zones. Specifically, the study focused on temporary traffic control plans and internal traffic control plans (ITCPs). This study highlights the critical contribution of ITCPs to internal-source incidents. Currently, there is no requirement to create and implement an ITCP. As a result, a justification for OSHA’s use of the general-duty clause is suggested to enforce the utilization of ITCPs in roadway work zones. In addition, recommendations to improve overall FACE investigation efficiency and temporary traffic control layout are suggested. This study will aid construction firms and public agencies in improving the overall safety of roadway work zones to reduce occupational fatal and nonfatal injuries.