Page:UK Traffic Signs Manual - Chapter 8 - Part 2- Traffic Safety Measures and Signs for Road Works and Temporary Situations) - Operations 2009.pdf/14

GENERAL The Manual Handling Operations Regulations, as amended in 2002, apply to a wide range of manual handling activities including, e.g. lifting and lowering of traffic management equipment. Further guidance on the application of these regulations can be found in "Manual Handling, Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, Guidance on the Regulations" HSE publication L23 and “Manual Handling solutions you can handle” HSE publication HSG115. See References (Appendix 3).

Working on live roads carries a potentially high risk. Road users may not expect to encounter standing or slow-moving works vehicles, or people at work, in the carriageway. In addition, the personnel involved may have little protection from oncoming traffic. Hence the work shall be managed properly to ensure that the risks are as low as is reasonably practicable.

High-speed trunk roads, particularly motorways, and class A roads have a lower accident rate in normal use than minor roads. However, they can present a greater risk when obstructed by road works unless the boundary of the works is effectively delineated and precautions are taken to ensure that the travelling public is adequately warned of the presence of any obstruction.

Although the potential consequences of an accident on heavily-trafficked high-speed roads are more severe, the risks involved in working on lower category routes shall not be ignored. Commonly such roads will not meet current sight distance or other design standards and in many cases the available carriageway width will be limited.

As temporary traffic management on high-speed roads is a hazardous activity, the selection of the actual method of work shall be made by a competent person and shall reflect the risks and site-specific circumstances of the planned work.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, specific to the task being performed, must be carried out to provide input to the method statement as it is being drafted. Consideration must be given to ways of firstly eliminating, or if this is not possible, then minimising the risk to operatives and the public. Information on formulating a risk assessment is given in the HSE free publication "Five steps to risk assessment".

The planning of temporary traffic management operations shall:}}
 * seek to eliminate potential conflicts

but, where it is not possible to eliminate the risk, shall:
 * seek to reduce and control potential conflicts.

When planning road works schemes, the following issues, which are intended to eliminate or reduce and control the risk from temporary traffic management operations, should be noted.
 * Road works schemes inevitably involve a compromise between getting the work done as quickly as possible and keeping the traffic flowing freely and safely. It is therefore important to plan the activities (including the placing and removal of traffic management arrangements) to optimise work efficiency and safety and to minimise traffic and road user congestion, delay and inconvenience. Meetings or consultations with other interested parties, e.g. the police, should therefore normally precede the start of works. In addition it needs to be appreciated that traffic 12