Workzone Safety- A Public Partnership

Poster

Each year more than 100 workers are killed and over 20,000 are injured in the highway and street construction occupations. Highway and street construction workers are at risk of fatal and serious nonfatal injury when working among passing motorists, construction vehicles, and equipment. The Whitley County Highway Department had limited resources and was only able to conduct training through video tapes. The department desired more timely information and directed training.

Whitley County Learning Services as part of Purdue Extension, connected the Highway Department with the Purdue's Local Technical Assistance Program. The first class was completed for 29 workers in October, 2004, with instruction on snowplow safety. The second class was completed in April, 2005, with 56 workers completing the Workzone and Flagger safety session. The third class is scheduled with 49 participants.

Workers completed the 3 hour course with a certified instructor during the normal work day. Participants received a laminated temporary traffic control pocket handbook. They learned about public education concerning factors related to safe navigation of work zones. Benefits included:

• 67% of those attending have only a high school education. This provides an opportunity for research based continuing education.
• Whitley County government saved over $2600.00 in training expenses during the three programs.
• over eighty workers have participated in the two programs. Evaluations indicated (N=76), 55 (72.4%) rated the program as a positive increase on their job skills. 56 (73.6%) stated the information they learned would be valuable at work.

This collaboration may save lives.