Helping achieve the industry goal of zero deaths on the nation’s roadways involves educating a range of groups from prospective partners to the general public.

Register now for the fifth and final session of ATSSA’s free Worker Safety Webinar series to gain skills to help you present your case. The Dec. 6 webinar starts at 2 p.m.

“Sharing Safety: Marketing and Partnerships to Create Safer Streets” will be led by Alex Kelly, CEO of SALT and Company, and a member of ATSSA’s Roadway Worker Protection Council. Participants will learn how to tell compelling stories about the work they are doing and leverage partnerships to increase awareness of roadway workers and the work they are doing and goals they seek to achieve. 

At the most recent ATSSA Instructors’ Meeting in Providence, R.I., a question was asked about the proper orientation of the front wheels of a truck-mounted attenuator (TMA), a key issue for roadway safety.

TMAs are trucks equipped with energy-absorbing attenuators, to provide physical protection for roadway workers from traffic approaching from the rear.

A common myth is that the wheels should be angled to prevent the TMA from being pushed into workers in case of an impact. This is not the preferred method and not what ATSSA teaches.

Instead, the preferred method is to point the wheels straight ahead (not turned left or right) and allow for the TMA’s roll-ahead distance.

The overreaching contractual obligation to assume responsibility for another party beyond the extent of your own negligence or willful misconduct is unreasonable and a clear and present danger to the roadway safety infrastructure industry.  

Michael Capell of Brown & Brown recently listened while an ATSSA member shared an experience, recounting the unsettling details of a lawsuit that altogether changed his approach to every project.  For this member, had it not been for a negotiated settlement in exchange for a full release, a jury award would have easily exceeded the company’s available limits of liability insurance and forced a sell-off of corporate assets. The hard-to-swallow reality of the matter was that his involvement was simply a consequence of a far-reaching contractual obligation. 

The business survived, with the experience serving as an endless reminder to never again roll over for blanket contractual risk shifting. This member now fires back, many times successfully negotiating a narrowed responsibility that is fairly and appropriately aligned with his company’s presence on a project, something previously thought unachievable.

These circumstances are all too familiar and place high priority for the continued drive for awareness and education of the issues, contract review protocols and a push for legislative changes.

A new group of ATSSA members and volunteers has formed to assist members and will be presenting a webinar on Nov. 8 and a panel at the 2023 Convention & Traffic Expo in Phoenix.

The ATSS Foundation is partnering with Work Zone Safe to teach teen drivers how to safely navigate roadway work zones.

The online program is currently only available to teens who live in Oklahoma but could be expanded to other states.

Learn about the program and how to bring it to your state during a free webinar, "No More Pamphlets! Modernizing Teen Driver Work Zone Safety," on Aug. 9, 2-3 p.m. ATSSA members and representatives from departments of transportation (DOTs) are encouraged to attend.

Preparing for an incident that may never happen could seem like a poor use of resources. But, if a serious injury or death takes place on the job, the investment will have been well worth it, Alex Kelly, CEO of Salt + Company, said today during a Worker Safety Webinar.

Today’s webinar, “Effective Incident Response,” covered the basics of how to prepare and important resources to have at hand in case a worker is seriously injured or killed on the job. This was the second of five free Worker Safety Webinars hosted by the ATSSA Training Department and its Roadway Worker Protection Council. The first webinar, “Road Safety 101,” was held Nov. 9.

All webinars are free and run from 2-3 p.m. ET.