Common hazards and their mitigating measures in work zones: A qualitative study of worker perceptions

Abstract

Road construction and maintenance activities present challenges for ensuring the safety of workers and the traveling public alike. Hazards in work zones are typically studied using historical crash records but the current study took a qualitative approach by interviewing 66 workers from various work zones in Queensland, Australia. This supplemented and enhanced the limited available data regarding the frequency and nature of work zone crashes in Australia, provided worker insights into contributing factors, and assessed their opinions on the likely effectiveness of current or future approaches to hazard mitigation. Workers may not be aware of objective data regarding effectiveness, but their attitudes and consequent levels of compliance can influence both the likelihood of implementation and the outcomes of safety measures. Despite the potential importance of worker perceptions, they have not been studied comprehensively to date, and thus this study fills a significant gap in the literature. Excessive vehicle speeds, driver distraction and aggression towards roadworkers, working in wet weather, at night and close to traffic stream were among the most common hazards noted by workers. The safety measures perceived to be most effective included police presence, active enforcement, and improving driver awareness and education about work zones. Worker perceptions differed according to their level of exposure to hazards.

Modeling working shifts in construction projects using an agent-based approach to minimize the spread of COVID-19

“…Existing studies in literature recognize that workers performing their job during night shifts may see affected their performance depending on the job being performed [ [34] , [35] , [36] ]. Specifically, in the context of construction projects, the use of night shifts has been related to negative outcomes when compared with day shifts, such as the higher risk of injuries and accidents [ 37 ], lack of sleep from construction workers [ 38 ], and loss of productivity [ 39 ].…”

Safety effects of work zone advisory systems under the intelligent connected vehicle environment: a microsimulation approach

“…Many researchers have put efforts in studying this topic (Ardeshiri and Jeihani, 2014;Brewer et al, 2006). Some researchers conducted a survey questionnaire to investigate drivers' compliance rate in different driving scenarios (Debnath et al, 2015;Weng and Meng, 2012;Mohammadi et al, 2011). However, some literatures found that drivers' compliance rate abstracted from the results of the questionnaire survey results was higher than real drivers' compliance rate in most cases, which shows that survey-based compliance rates are not very convincing enough (Lajunen and Summala, 2003;Wåhlberg et al, 2011).…”

Research on the Relationship between Dynamic Message Sign Control Strategies and Driving Safety in Freeway Work Zones

“…Many studies have focused on work zone safety (e.g., [10,11]). A variety of interventions and standards, including those aimed at worker education [12], raising public awareness [13], increasing the presence of law enforcement [14], enhancing infrastructure and signage [15], and connecting vehicles to smart communication [16,17], have been suggested to improve the safety and stability in work zones. In 2009, the Federal Highway Administration published the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) [18].…”