Guidelines for Ensuring the Safety of Roadworkers

The Australian Workers Union (AWU) has asked Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) to prepare guidelines for ensuring the safety of roadworkers. The AWU considers that the current levels of safety are inadequate and would like to have guidelines that can be incorporated into industrial agreements and contracts. A set of guidelines was prepared for assessing and managing risks at roadworks sites based on general principles for ensuring roadworks safety. Following this, a simplified system of risk controls was developed by merging similar types of worksites. After discussion with the AWU, a number of issues of implementation were identified and are described at the conclusion of the report.