Using A Hazard Assessment To Protect Your Work Zone
No one will deny that working on a busy roadway can be dangerous, both for workers and passing motorists. Protecting these work zones is essential to minimize the risk of worker injury and ensure that the job proceeds on time and within budget. Correctly handling this job requires a systematic approach to analyzing your specific job site's needs and hazards.
Performing this analysis requires the use of a tool known as a hazard assessment. This process ensures that you can choose the correct equipment to keep your work zone safe, regardless of location or the work required.
What is a Hazard Assessment?
As the name implies, the purpose of a hazard assessment is to ascertain the areas of your worksite where your personnel or members of the public may be at risk. These hazards include everything from passing motorists to the dangers associated with working with heavy equipment. Inspectors must examine anything that poses a risk of bodily harm in this report.
The typical hazard assessment involves a systematic walkthrough of a work zone. If you do not have a dedicated safety officer, someone highly familiar with the site and dangers of road work should conduct the review. This assessment must consider any hazards that workers will face, even in areas where crews only spend a brief amount of time.
When dealing with roadway work sites, remember that you'll need to consider the time motorists will require to notice the hazard and safely slow down or come to a stop. You may need to install work zone equipment like signs or lights a significant distance from your actual work zone.
How Can You Use Your Hazard Assessment?
While proper PPE selection is one facet of hazard assessment, it's also a critical tool when selecting roadside safety equipment. For example, your hazard assessment will help you understand if it's necessary to entirely exclude motorists from portions of the roadway near your work site. In these cases, you may need to install temporary barriers to redirect traffic.
Likewise, your assessment can determine the relative risk to workers based on the traffic volume along the road. If road traffic is too hazardous for a worker to perform flagging duties, then an automated flagger may be a better option. A formal safety assessment can also identify visibility issues, providing you with a clearer picture of where you may require additional signage.
Ultimately, a thorough hazard assessment will help you choose the right equipment for your worksite and ensure that you comply with safety guidelines. By taking this assessment seriously, you'll guarantee that your workers can operate productively and safely and that members of the public will have ample warning to avoid accidents.