Construction sites are busy, with heavy vehicles moving around, loading and unloading construction materials. This makes a construction site dangerous if no proper caution is in place.
Unsupervised construction sites can lead to injuries, or worse, deaths, of workers, drivers, and bystanders. Nevertheless, such accidents are avoidable with traffic management. So, establishing a traffic management plan for your site is a must before starting your construction project.
With a good traffic management plan, you can realize smooth traffic flow and promote worker, motorist, and pedestrian safety. To achieve these, consider the following six traffic management tips for construction sites.
1. Create A Traffic Management Plan
Creating a traffic management plan is vital as construction sites are accident-prone areas, and any accident can lead to project delays. You need to team up with a traffic control company with top-notch expertise. Working with well-informed and trained experts in a construction site can minimize accident risks, as they can design a traffic management plan for your site.
Before starting the construction project, you must hire a company to issue you a construction traffic management plan (CTMP). With a CTMP in place, local businesses, traffic, and residents will experience minimal negative impact from the construction site. Traffic management plans should explain how to manage risks at a construction site. A CTMP should have the following details:
- Designated areas for loading, unloading, and delivering construction materials
- Travel paths within the construction site, including turning points, side roads, dumping areas, and access ramps
- Designated routes for specific vehicles, such as cranes and heavy vehicles
- Traffic and pedestrian routes
- Responsibilities of individuals managing the traffic
- Monitoring and implementation methods to ensure the effectiveness of the plan
2. Conduct Swept Path Analysis
Swept path analysis separates pedestrians from vehicles in a construction site. Carrying out a swept path analysis is crucial in managing traffic at a construction site. It enables the plotting of vehicle, machinery, and pedestrian routes to realize smooth maneuvering within the area. A well-conducted swept path analysis prevents the obstruction of heavy vehicles, pedestrian walkways, and emergency routes.
To keep vehicles and pedestrians apart to minimize accidents while enhancing traffic flow, implement the following tips:
- Mark the pedestrian path.
- Block pedestrian entry to areas where power plants are operating.
- Block vehicle entry in pedestrian-only areas, such as entrances, amenities, and tearooms.
- Install barriers, chains, barricades, bollards, or tape to prevent pedestrian access to areas where heavy vehicles operate.
- Designated crossing points should be marked well, making it easy to spot a car or a pedestrian.
- Designate park spots for visitors and workers. Ensure that this parking area is outside the construction area.
- At the exit point, you should install mirrors, traffic controllers, or warning devices to ensure pedestrians and drivers can spot each other.
- The walkways shouldn’t be blocked to prevent pedestrians from using vehicle routes.
- Schedule working time to avoid pedestrians and mobile-powered plants being in one spot simultaneously.
Swept path analysis should also be conducted in any commercial or residential development that requires delivering or removing construction materials.
3. Train All Workers
Safety starts with your team. All workers should be trained on traffic rules to prevent accidents on construction sites. Irrespective of their positions, undergoing proper training on traffic rules is crucial before they start working on the construction site.
You or the construction site manager should ensure that all construction workers and visitors are trained before being granted access to the site. They should be aware of standard operating procedures, the CTMP, and other related topics. Increased safety awareness can aid in reducing accidents and completing your construction project on time.
4. Enhance Visibility
Visibility is essential in a construction site, especially in areas where private, passenger, and commercial vehicles are reversing and pedestrians are crossing. Poor visibility not only compromises pedestrian safety but also delays completion time.
You must improve visibility to minimize accidents when carrying out a construction project. You can achieve that by installing alarms, mirrors, and closed-circuit televisions to keep track of all vehicle movements within the site and the surrounding areas.
Consider working with highly trained vehicle marshallers to help control traffic flow and prevent accidents at construction sites. Installing sufficient lighting and signs within the area can also improve visibility and maneuverability. In addition, all construction workers should wear highly reflective clothes.
5. Designate Safe Loading and Unloading Zones
The most dangerous activity in a construction site is the loading and unloading of construction materials. So you must carefully consider the layout and location of the loading and offloading zones.
Loading and unloading zones should be positioned well to minimize vehicle movement and be far from power and communication wires. These zones should also be free of steep slopes.
It’s highly recommended to design a drive-through and one-way system for loading and unloading construction materials. Check for the ideal positions for these zones.
And to enhance traffic flow and prevent accidents, pedestrians shouldn’t be allowed in these zones. Consider hiring staff responsible for blocking pedestrian access into the loading and unloading zones.
6. Minimize Movement
The best traffic management tip is to minimize movements, especially those of vehicles at the construction site. To reduce vehicle movement, limit the number of cars in operation at a specific time. You can also implement these tips:
- Set up a storage area outside the construction site to prevent delivery vehicles from crossing the construction site.
- Visitors and construction workers should park their cars relatively far from the construction site.
- Entry to the site should be controlled by installing barriers.
- Create a schedule to minimize the number of vehicles running simultaneously at the construction site.
In addition to minimizing vehicle movement, ensure that vehicles have safe exits and turnarounds to prevent accidents. When reversing, install mirrors, sensors, alarms, or cameras so that drivers have no blind spots.
The route should be well marked. Moreover, the signaling person should wear highly reflective clothes to enhance visibility as the driver reverses the car.
Takeaway
The construction industry is acknowledged as one of the most dangerous. A comprehensive traffic management plan for construction sites is necessary to improve traffic flow and worker and public safety. Ensure that the CTMP has a minimal negative impact on residents and local businesses within that area.
Executing a traffic management plan is a collaborative effort. Apart from the construction crew, you need to include traffic control enforcers and the public. The tips discussed in this article can help you carry out a smooth operation at a construction site while maximizing worker safety.