Summary#
The majority of workplaces assessed were fully or partially implementing the traffic management policies and procedures that were assessed by WHSQ inspectors as part of the worksite assessments. However, the assessments covered items that were mostly basic regulatory requirements and industry-established control measures. As such, any level of non-implementation should signal an area of concern for workplaces in the industries involved.
There were significant differences in the levels of implementation of traffic management practices observed across the different industries. There were lower levels in the agriculture and industrial (e.g. manufacturing, transport, and logistics) categories compared to the construction industry. Whilst the construction industry had higher implementation levels, the findings relating to non-compliance with SWMs indicate that further improvements in traffic management practices can be made across all industries targeted in this project.
Over 700 workplaces were visited by WHSQ inspectors during phases one and two of this project with the aim of raising awareness, providing information and guidance, and increasing levels of work health and safety compliance. In the course of undertaking these site visits, inspectors identified many workplaces that had effective traffic management practices. These workplaces typically adopted a risk management approach that focused on the following key issues:
- Keeping pedestrians and vehicles apart, including on site and at entries and exits
- Creating dedicated loading and unloading areas
- Installing signage
- Providing information and training to workers and visitors
- Locating parking areas away from busy work zones
- Ensuring vehicles and pedestrians are visible to each other
- Avoiding the need for reversing vehicles
- Developing a traffic management plan
There are a range of WHSQ resources, including guidance material, presentations and films available on the www.worksafe.qld.gov.au website. Additionally, several case studies have been developed to demonstrate what effective traffic management looks like:
- Dindas Australia
- Hyne Timber
- Roadtek.
Acknowledgement: Information used in this report has been reproduced from the Safe Work Australia General guide for workplace traffic management.
State of Queensland 2017.
Unless otherwise noted, this document is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
You are free to copy and redistribute the work, so long as you attribute The State of Queensland.
The material presented in this publication is distributed by the Queensland Government for information only and is subject to change without notice. The Queensland Government disclaims all responsibility and liability (including liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages and costs incurred as a result of the information being inaccurate or incomplete in any way and for any reason.
PN12230
