Public and private transportation groups from across the country were recognized for their commitment to safety at the American Road & Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation (ARTBA-TDF)’s seventh annual Roadway Work Zone Safety Awareness Awards competition. The awards were presented Oct. 10 during the ARTBA National Convention, held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The program recognizes outstanding efforts to help reduce roadway work zone construction accidents, injuries and fatalities. The awards are divided into four categories: private outreach campaigns, government outreach programs, safety training and innovations in technology. An independent panel of judges reviewed the entries and selected the winners.
Private Outreach–State/Provincial/Regional
This category recognizes the efforts of national, state and local private sector organizations, such as construction companies, utility companies or trade associations that promote roadway work zone safety through implementation of employee and/or public education campaigns and training programs.
First Place: Tennessee Transportation Development Foundation, “Ollie Otter’s Work Zone and Seatbelt/Booster Seat Awareness Campaign”
To promote safety on Tennessee roads, the Tennessee Road Builders Association partnered with Tennessee Tech University, state and local officials, schools and stakeholders to promote roadway work zone safety and seatbelt/booster seat safety in all Tennessee elementary schools. The program used interactive teaching materials, an Ollie Otter mascot and in-depth classroom instruction to reach students.
Second Place: Louisiana TIMED Managers, “TIMED 2 Drive Safe” Campaign
Government Outreach–State/Provincial/Regional
This category recognizes the specific public outreach campaigns or safety programs by federal, state or local government agencies aimed at improving roadway work zone safety.
First Place: Missouri Department of Transportation, “2007 Work Zone Awareness Campaign”
The Missouri Department of Transportation utilized a multitiered approach to attract public attention to work zone safety issues. One approach was to “bathe” prominent public landmarks in orange lighting to generate public and media attention. The second approach was to create a hard-hitting public awareness campaign, including advertising and a public service announcement, utilizing a powerful media interview conducted by a state road crew member, who was subsequently killed in the line of duty shortly after the interview was recorded.
Second Place (tie): South Carolina Department of Transportation, “Work Zone Safety High Visibility Enforcement Campaign”
Second Place (tie): Tennessee Department of Transportation, “Get in the Zone” Campaign
Training–Local/Municipal
This category recognizes national, state and local training programs that promote worker safety on the jobsite.
First Place: Callanan Industries, Inc., “Safety Alert Program”
Callanan Industries employs over 100 workers throughout New York. Each week in their paychecks, employees receive a “Safety Alert” containing key messages to help promote safe behavior in work zones through the use of photos showing actual Callanan worksites and crews. To date, the alerts have been credited as an important factor in helping the company decrease incidents by 30%, and a lost-time accident has not been record for nearly 500,000 hours.
Second Place: Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works–Bureau of Highways, “Work Zone Safety Awareness Week 2007”
Training–State/Provincial/Regional
First Place: New Jersey Work Zone Safety Partnership and New Jersey LTAP, “New Jersey Traffic Control Coordinator Program”
In the 1990s, 12 workers were killed in New Jersey work zone accidents. To provide a preventative tool, the New Jersey Work Zone Safety Partnership was organized to implement a statewide safety program to provide workers with information and resources to use on jobsites and in work zones. Today, more than 300 participants attend each year, receive educational materials and participate in a full curriculum of safety, best practices, operations and operational training.
Innovations in Technology
This category recognizes manufacturers of all types of equipment and products that develop, integrate and market innovative technologies, and organizations that demonstrate the innovative application of existing technologies.
Methodology
First Place: Cianbro/Reed & Reed, JV, “Penobscot Narrows Bridge & Observatory”
The Cianbro/Reed & Reed joint venture team partnered with FIGG and the Maine Department of Transportation to develop a unique project delivery method called “owner-facilitated design-build in which the contractors and designers were contracted directly to the facility owner. Under a short timeframe, the team of 100 craftsmen developed a program that helped result in nearly 500,000 hours worked without a lost time injury—safely delivering Maine’s newest bridge landmark, including the world’s tallest public bridge observatory. The Penobscot Narrows Bridge & Observatory also uses a new cable stay cradle system in which the strands are continuous from bridge deck through cradles in the pylons and back to the bridge deck, eliminating anchorages in the pylon. This system challenged the team to develop new work processes and safety procedures.
Product
First Place: SignCAD Systems, Inc., “Cone Zone”
Minnetonka, Minn.-based SignCAD Systems Inc. developed a fully integrated software solution for designing and managing work zones from start to finish. The program helps agencies implement and enforce approved layout standards, enables personnel to manage their immediate work zone safety environment, allows for rapid response to safety problems and establishes a computerized process to monitor and manage all safety systems and processes. It also creates a history of activities for each work zone to ensure compliance and best practices tracking as well as providing a system for bench-marking against future projects.
The Roadway Work Zone Safety Awareness Awards program is an ARTBA-TDF project that complements the association’s “PRIDE in Transportation Construction” campaign to focus public attention on the many positive contributions the transportation construction industry has made to the U.S. economy and quality of life.
