Working with the Federal Highway Administration (“FHWA”), the American Traffic Safety Services Association (“ATSSA”) is coordinating its 26th annual National Work Zone Awareness Week to begin next Monday. This year’s theme is “Respect the Zone So We All Get Home,” with each day next week focusing upon a certain hazard or danger faced by anyone entering or working in a road construction zone.
From ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner:
“It’s important to grasp the meaning of this year’s theme. It reflects the sad reality that the majority of people killed in work zone crashes are drivers and their passengers. That’s why it’s critical to put away all distractions, slow down and stay alert when approaching and passing through a roadway work zone. We want everyone on the roadways to get home safely.”
Chicago hosted the national public safety campaign against work zone accidents in 2018 under the theme “Work Zone Safety: Everybody’s Responsibility.” For safety agencies and advocates of work zone accident victims and their loved ones, it is particularly important that next week’s campaign successfully increase awareness of the tremendous dangers we all face here in Chicagoland.
With our high number of Project Rebuild Illinois road work zones combined with the complexities of these work zone projects, our Chicago area faces a disturbingly high risk of people being hurt or killed in a road construction zone.
For more, read: Chicago Road Construction Work Zones: Unique Danger of Struck-by And Caught-Between Accidents; and Dangerous Combination in Chicago: Semi-Truck Traffic and Road Construction Work Zone.
Event Schedule for National Work Zone Safety Week
Next week’s event schedule has been announced. Local events may be held outside of this national calendar, too. The week’s campaign calendar:
- Monday, April 21: Work Zone Safety Training Day
- Tuesday, April 22: Kickoff Event hosted by North Carolina DOT
- Wednesday, April 23: Go Orange Day
- Thursday, April 24: Social Media Storm
- Friday, April 25: Moment of Silence.
Coordinating materials, including orange merchandise like pins, ribbons, decals, car magnets, etc. are also being provided. These include silicone bracelets worn to honor and remember those whose lives have been lost in a work zone accident.
Those interested in learning more about the national safety event can easily contact officials via social media and the hashtag “#NWZAW.”
FHWA Focus on Dangers to Workers in Road Work Zone
The FHWA explains that National Work Zone Awareness Week “…spotlights safety and mobility challenges in and around work zones nationwide. Work zones, and the people working in them, are an important part of maintaining and upgrading the transportation system. Work zone safety is a component of national efforts … such as 23 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 630 Subparts J and K. These regulations include several work zone safety measures….”
These federal requirements do two things regarding duties of safety and care owed to road construction workers: (1) they mandate agencies to monitor safety performance in work zones of all those with possession, custody, or control of aspects of that construction site; and (2) they require use of protection devices in road work zones “with high anticipated operating speeds that provide workers with no means of escape from motorized traffic intruding into the workspace, unless an engineering study determines otherwise.”
For more on the legal duties of care and safety owed to Chicagoland road construction workers, read our earlier discussion in: Chicago Road Construction Worker Accidents: List of Third Parties Potentially Liable for On-the-Job Injuries.
Road Work Zone Fatalities: Construction Worker Death Rates and Honoring The Fallen
Fortunately, safety efforts like the annual National Work Zone Awareness Week campaign have had some success. FHWA reports that data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that the number of fatal highway worker injuries has fallen each year since 2019. Most of these fatalities have been the result of the worker being struck by a motor vehicle while on foot (49%).
National Work Zone Memorial for Those Who Perished in a Work Zone Construction Accident
For those who have lost loved ones in a road work zone accident, the ATSSA invites recognition of the work zone accident victim to be included in the National Work Zone Memorial.
This is both a physical, traveling Memorial containing the names of those who have lost their lives in work zone tragedies, as well as a coordinated digital Memorial. An image of the Memorial is included on the ATSSA website. The complete database of names listed on the Memorial can be reviewed, as well (Illinois’ fallen can be found on page 8).
Names may be submitted through an online form, with the caveat that this Memorial is dedicated to those who died in a work zone as defined by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices as “an area of a roadway with construction, maintenance or utility work activities.”
Keeping Workers Safe in Chicago Road Work Construction Zones
It is imperative that everyone on the job in any size or scope of road work zone here in the Chicagoland area be alert and aware of the great risks they face every moment they are on that worksite. While there are laws in place intended to keep these workers safe, all too often those with legal responsibilities of care and safety will breach their duties and cause horrific accidents where one or more people suffer severe or deadly bodily harm.
The extent of legal protections for Chicagoland road construction workers is vast. Nevertheless, all too often those in positions of authority or control fail to comply with safety regulations or industrial standards.
From negligent warning signs or labels on tools, equipment, or machinery; to introducing a defective product into the workplace; to doing things like not providing adequate safety training; supervision of work force; or ignoring proper Personal Protective Equipment, the road construction worker may be vulnerable to dangers in all sorts of ways due to another’s failure to exercise due care.
For more, read:
- Protecting Workers in Chicago Road Work Construction Zones: Traffic Safety
- Electricity Accident Dangers for Road Work Construction Workers in Chicagoland
- Trenching Dangers in Chicago Road Work Construction Projects: Rebuild Illinois in Chicagoland
- Asphalt Dangers to Workers in Chicago Area Road Work Zones
- Reckless Driving in Chicago Road Work Accidents.
Chicago road work zones are very dangerous. And there are so many of them today. Supporting the National Work Zone Awareness Week is important for all of Illinois. Please be careful out there!
