How To Create A Traffic Management Plan
Ensuring the safety of everyone on your work site should be your utmost priority. Various workplaces involve traffic. This traffic usually plays an important role in the productivity of a project or worksite. In addition to workers, the management responsible for worksite safety should also take substantial measures. Therefore, it is necessary for project management to implement a variety of traffic management plans in addition to other safety measures.
Unorderly and unmanaged traffic can create serious problems for constant workflow and productivity at the worksite. The presence of a proper traffic management plan would help in ensuring a consistent workflow without any external or internal hurdle.
Devising a dedicated traffic management plan would help in analysing multiple aspects of traffic moving in and around the worksite. The plan will be helpful in figuring out the peak hours for traffic at the worksite, type of traffic, vehicles that are often used, and the loopholes or potential weak spots at worksites that may cause an accident. There should be input from all the stakeholders at the worksite including workers while creating a traffic management plan for a worksite. Just analysis and observations are not enough, realistic inputs will help you in making a worksite way safer with the help of a traffic management plan.
Here are some important factors of a traffic management plan that should be considered before commencing work on a project or worksite:
- Create a traffic management plan by inspecting existing traffic control plans and safety precautions before commencing each work shift. Initiate inspection by going through the details of the project, speed limits, and expected traffic situation.
- You should also keep a keen eye out for any fluctuation in traffic conditions like unusually high traffic or considerably low traffic compared to the regular times. The temporary traffic control equipment like safety signs, bollards, and other items should be inspected as well.
- Observe the internal traffic condition as well, and look for control measures to keep workers safe from collision with mobile construction equipment and powered vehicles working at the worksite.
- Define the implementation of traffic control measures at your worksite. This definition should cover the vehicle and pedestrian routes, movement of vehicles, path for movement of vehicles, the speed limit for vehicles at the worksite, warning devices, and traffic signs.
- In addition to the strategy, define the method of describing faulty equipment as well, in order to keep everyone at worksite safe from any kind of hazard.
- Implement the rule of starting each workday with a safety meeting. In this meeting, supervisors should remind their subordinates regarding safety manuals, safety actions, and steps to follow in case of any unforeseen and unfortunate event. This will not only make your workers feel safe and satisfied but also keep everyone involved in the project safe from dangers. Drivers, operators, signalmen, and other kinds of workers should be briefed about the working schedule each day as well. You should also take measures to train everyone involved in the project regarding the identification and information about potential hazards. This schedule should be implemented strictly for the project like road construction.
- Everyone including higher management should be aware of their responsibilities and roles in order to keep everyone safe from potential hazards at worksites.