ROAD SAFETY
Preventing deaths in the road construction industry
Road construction is a hazardous occupation and
ranked as one of the most dangerous places to work.
While roads are now safer than ever before, incidents
involving road workers have risen.
According to WorkSafeBC, injuries to roadside workers have
spiked over the last decade with the majority of deaths caused by
workers being struck by a vehicle.
Blind spots on vehicles are a major contributing factor to collisions
and are often the main reason ground workers are killed or
injured. As roads get busier, more construction work is being scheduled
to take place at night, which further increases safety issues for
workers and limits drivers’ visibility. Alongside this, ground workers
are required to wear ear protection, meaning they cannot always
hear vehicles approaching. Preventing deaths and keeping workers
safe is clearly a challenging yet essential task.
Technology is now playing a crucial role in solving many of the
safety issues facing the road construction industry. These include
eliminating blind spots on vehicles and assisting drivers working
in difficult conditions when visibility can be compromised, such as
bad weather or overnight.
While large mirrors have traditionally been used, they cannot
completely eliminate blind spots, but commercial vehicle camera
MODFOS / 123RF
SAFETY
TECHNOLOGY
MODFOS/123RF
thinkbigmagazine.ca | Quarter 3 2019 | Think BIG 49
/profile_modfos
/thinkbigmagazine.ca