Construction work is dangerous. According to the latest statistics from OSHA, there are at least two deaths on a construction job site every day across the country! The most common fatalities in construction include: falls, being struck by an object, electrocutions, and being caught in between two objects. The most common construction sites include those for house building, road laying, and repair and maintenance for critical public infrastructure.

Therefore, safety is of the utmost concern while on a job, as pretty much everyone is exposed to work involving massive machinery, heights, dust inhalation, loud noise, and other hazardous conditions. As the 21st century marches on, more and more construction work is being done across the planet, and with it comes a need for increased job site security to protect workers. Failures in hazard identification are often due to limited or improper training and the improper usage of safety equipment. Worksafe Traffic Control Industries understands the safety and the needs of a modern construction site.

As a result of falls being the leading cause of injury in the construction industry, OSHA mandates that fall protection is needed for excavations, holes, form-work, leading-edge work, unprotected sides and edges, floor openings, residential construction, and other walking/working surfaces. Fall protection equipment must be visible and actively marked.

Motor vehicle crashes are another leading safety hazard on construction sites, so it is important to always exercise caution while operating motor vehicles or equipment on the job. A motor vehicle at a construction site is required to have a brake system, emergency brakes, and a separate parking brake. All construction vehicles are to be equipped with an audible warning system, doors, windshield wipers, and an unobstructed view of the site from the rear window. All construction workers are also required to be properly trained before using said motor vehicles and equipment. To increase worker and pedestrian security, the usage of regulation traffic control safety equipment is required on all road and outdoor worksites with site egress.

The Importance of Highway Equipment

Safety is important, this is something we all agree on, and often think of when it comes to our cars. Does anyone remember the controversy about airbags that peaked in the ’90s? Claims abounded that they “killed more people than they saved,” and yet decades later, having multiple airbags per person is standard in some brands.

Yet cars are as inherently dangerous as they are essential. In essence, they are two-plus ton metal cages that travel at high speeds, especially on the freeways. How do you protect construction workers, then, when they build and repair critical infrastructure in the path of cars moving at high speeds?

The best method is to reduce speed and control the flow of traffic through ultra-high visibility signage and flashing equipment. This equipment is absolutely a necessity for anyone who works, performs volunteer duty, or even ventures near highly trafficked areas.

Safety is always important and knowing how to obtain the necessary equipment, as well as how to use it is incredibly essential for everyone.

Types of Highway Equipment Rentals

The purpose of this equipment is to present information in a clear and concise manner and thus needs to perform to certain safety standards. The colors are chosen because they are highly visible, even in low light settings, are reflective to catch your eye, even at night, and need to be durable and long-lasting enough to survive inclement weather and vehicle damage.

Here are common highway equipment rentals and the purposes they serve:

Barricades

These devices provide a visible and concise mean to block access. They come in three main types: I, II, and III. Type I barricades tend to come on A-frames and have one striped beam. Type II are larger and have two reflective, striped beams and are more often used on roads. Type III barricades have three-striped, horizontal beams and are often designed to be breakaway and have mounted solar warning lights.

Cones and Delineators

These mainstays of traffic safety are great for channeling traffic in a safe manner. Modern cones offer excellent color retention, reflective collars, and can withstand temperature extremes. Channelizing drums, those large, barrel sized drums used on freeways and highways, are rugged, and impact-resistant so they can last a long time. Delineators, the tall and skinny cylindrical devices, are great at blocking-off areas, directing traffic, and are easily recognizable. They can be flexible, impact-resistant, or be repurposed to hold pedestrian crossing signs, for example.

Trailer Mounted Devices

Worksafe Traffic Control Industries offers many trailer-mounted devices for worksite safety to heighten protection from motor vehicle accidents. Trailer-mounted devices are ideal for worksites because they come with their own power units and can minimize the need for workers to conduct traffic control operations. Such devices can display important information or can directly control the flow of traffic depending on the needs of the job. Trailer-mounted speed limit signs are manufactured to meet local state specifications and have long-lasting batteries that can be charged by attached solar panels. Their compact design and lighting efficiency makes them ideal for use in work zones and during special events and emergency response!

Trailer mounted devices are a great tool for safety when it comes to worker protection. These orange signs, mounted on skids or two-wheeled trailers, are manufactured to meet federal and state safety specifications. Whether you want worksite lights, speed limit signs, traffic signals, arrow boards or other such equipment – their Nitebrite technology promotes superior safety by providing brighter, more environmentally friendly and cost-effective lighting solutions that can be entirely solar powered or provide a solar/battery solution that can be used in conjunction with other equipment.

Trailer-mounted traffic signals are another commonly needed piece of equipment at a construction worksite. Like speed limit signs and arrow boards, the trailer-mounted traffic signals are battery-powered and can be charged via solar panels. Advanced radio communication is used to phase and monitor the signals for conflicts or failures. Other features are offered to provide options for safe and efficient traffic control for a variety of short- and long-term construction projects.

Trolley-Mounted Devices

Trolley-mounted devices are great for the lighting needs of any construction site when night work occurs. Portable presence lights are compact and battery-powered. Making use of the Nightbrite technology, which provides brighter, more environmentally friendly and cost-effective lighting systems, trolley-mounted portable presence lights allow the monitoring public to easily see the worksite from a distance and respond to changes in traffic smoothly, such as during a nighttime lane closure.

Devices like the PTL-1000 are examples of trolley-mounted portable target lights. Powered by the same Nightbrite technology, the portable target lights are compact, battery-powered lights that are ideal for short-term intermittent road construction and utility projects, flagging operations, special events, and even emergency services. Their high-performance batteries minimize the need for loud and expensive diesel generators for power. Smart, battery-powered, trolley-mounted traffic signals are also available for your construction needs!

Vests and Flags

There are a tremendous assortment of vests and a bevy of flags for proper identification and facilitation. These reflective/ high-visibility vests and associated equipment are ideal for traffic control, police officers, security, EMTs, school guards, and more. Even when walking your dog near a road, it is a good idea to have a safety reflectorized vest to increase visibility. Remember – just because you can see upcoming traffic does not guarantee that they can see you.

Striping Supplies

Exceptional visibility is a key component of safety, and striping supplies assist in providing a clear understanding of what is expected of drivers and pedestrians on roadway job sites. Materials include pavement marking tapes, safety placards that conform to ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements, measuring wheels and mark out materials, raised pavement markers, highway triangles, stencil kits, and more.

Attenuators and Positive Protection

So far, all the safety equipment has been designed to attract your attention and guide you safely, but none of this equipment is meant to protect from a distracted driver who is not paying attention. That requires positive protection, or actively doing something to protect workers and pedestrians. Seatbelts and airbags in cars are an example of positive protection as they keep you safe in an accident while things like warning lights and alerts are passive. They attract your attention but will not keep you safe if you do not see them.

Attenuators need to be heavy and massive to stop a vehicle, so they need to be truck-mounted, water-filled, or sand-filled. These barriers are easy to install, fill, and empty, and are safer than traditional concrete barriers because they deform on impact, protecting the driver of the vehicle.

A nuanced point in safety is that the energy in a collision needs to be dispersed and not channeled into the driver. This is why modern light poles and traffic lights are bolted to the ground: by being designed to break away on impact, they are more likely to save the life of the driver.