A reversing vehicle on a roadworks site has two audiences that cannot see each other: the crew inside the closure and the traffic outside it. Most manoeuvring incidents happen because a manoeuvre was planned for one and forgotten by the other.

Design the manoeuvre out first

The most effective control is not needing to reverse. A layout planned so vehicles enter at one end and leave at the other, a turning area inside the closure, or a delivery point positioned so a lorry can drive through all remove the manoeuvre entirely. Where reversing is unavoidable it should be short, in a defined place, and the same place every time so everyone on site knows where it happens.

The blind areas are where the crew walks

Directly behind a large vehicle, and along the offside, are areas where a standing adult cannot be seen from the cab. On a linear works those are precisely the routes people use, because the closure is long and narrow and there is nowhere else to walk. Cameras and mirrors reduce the blind areas without removing them, and both are commonly obscured by the spray and dirt a wet road produces.

One signaller, standing where the mirror can see them

A signaller controls the manoeuvre as much as the driver does, and that only works with one signaller, agreed signals, and a position that stays in the driver’s mirror throughout. The driver stops the moment the signaller is lost from view. On a live road there is an extra constraint: the signaller cannot take a position that puts them in the traffic lane to get a better view, which is exactly what the geometry tempts them to do.

Reversing towards the traffic side

A manoeuvre that swings any part of the vehicle over the cone line puts the vehicle into live traffic, and a long vehicle sweeps a great deal wider than the driver expects when turning. Planning the manoeuvre so the swing stays inside the closure, and stopping traffic properly rather than relying on drivers to slow down for a reversing lorry, are the two options. There is no third option in which the vehicle briefly crosses the line and it is fine.

Deliveries are the recurring problem

The vehicles that cause most difficulty are the ones that were not part of the plan: a delivery lorry whose driver does not know the site, arriving at a time nobody expected, needing to turn where there is no turning area. Briefing delivery drivers at the point of arrival, having a designated person meet them, and refusing manoeuvres that were not planned are what stop that vehicle improvising inside a live closure.

For the same problem away from public roads, see working near mobile plant. For the boundary being crossed, see the safety zone.

Related standards

The standards below set the classification, testing and performance requirements behind the equipment used for this work.

• EN ISO 20471 — High-Visibility Clothing
• EN 397 — Industrial Safety Helmets

Frequently asked questions