More than 1,500 safety, law enforcement and transportation design and construction professionals participated in a September 4 webinar hosted by the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse to learn about new Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regulations regarding the use of "high visibility garments."
Hari Kalla, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) team leader for FHWA’s Office of Operations, and Janice Bradley, technical director of the International Safety Equipment Association, provided background information on the new standards, which require the use of high visibility clothing when working in the right-of-way on federal-aid highways.
The regulations were developed in response to concerns that workers who are exposed to low visibility hazards are not wearing appropriate visibility-enhancing apparel. The regulations apply to construction and maintenance workers, survey crews, utility crews, emergency and incident responders, and law enforcement officers when directing traffic, investigating crashes, handling lane closures, obstructed roadways and disasters.
Webinars Now Online
This was the second in an ongoing series of safety-related Clearinghouse webinars being offered at no cost. Earlier this year, more than 600 people participated in an online session regarding the FHWA final rule on temporary traffic control devices.
The video and presentations from both webinars are available in the Clearinghouse "video vault" at www.workzonesafety.org.
The Clearinghouse is the world’s largest Internet resource on roadway construction zone safety issues. More than 100,000 information requests are handled annually. The facility is managed by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation (ARTBA-TDF) and based at the Texas Transportation Institute.
During the webinar, Clearinghouse staff also announced that the 2009 "National Traffic Management and Work Zone Safety Conference" will be held March 9-12 in Orlando, Fla., in conjunction with the World of Asphalt Show & Conference. This event will connect transportation design and construction industry professionals with government and safety industry experts to discuss challenges and cutting-edge solutions to improve the safe and efficient flow of traffic in roadway work zones.
For information on the traffic management and work zone safety conference, visit www.workzonesafety.org. To learn more about the World of Asphalt, visit www.worldofasphalt.com.
