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Safety campaign features real traffic control workers and their families
Additional information
- Backgrounder (PDF 18kb)
- Brenda Knight - Profile (PDF 35kb)
- Incident summaries (PDF 26kb)
- Posters
Richmond, B.C., July 5, 2007—Today, WorkSafeBC and a number of B.C.’s road construction companies are launching a new campaign to keep traffic control persons (TCPs)* safe in construction zones. The campaign, to be launched at the approach to the Golden Ears Bridge project in Langley, is aimed at encouraging drivers across B.C. to slow down in road construction zones.
The first of more than 20 signs to be erected on many of B.C.’s highest-profile road and bridge construction projects will be undraped by Brianna, Ashley and Amber, the children of Troy Davies, safety coordinator with Columbia Bitulithic, a division of Lafarge Canada Inc. Each of the signs will feature a worker from the site with family members and will ask drivers to “Slow Down – My Mommy/Daddy Works Here.”
Typical injuries suffered by TCPs working on public highway projects are broken bones, concussions, and contusions resulting from being hit by a vehicle that has entered the traffic-controlled zone.
Injured in 2005, Brenda Knight now assists the safety officer at the headquarters of Winvan Paving Ltd., the company where she formerly worked as a TCP. “Traffic controllers see people reading, shaving, putting on make-up while they drive. It’s a dangerous area that they’re going through. Please pay attention.”
TCPs are responsible for keeping traffic moving smoothly through construction zones and keeping both on-site workers and the public driving through those zones safe.
“We recognize that for those on family vacations or trying to make their deliveries on time, highway delays can be frustrating,” says Al Johnson, WorkSafeBC’s regional director for construction. “However, this is the busiest time of year for road construction companies and WorkSafeBC and its construction partners ask for your patience. These people have a right to safe workplaces.”
Steve Torrence, executive director of the Construction Safety Network, the organization responsible for certifying TCPs says, “On behalf of all traffic control people I’d like to thank WorkSafeBC and the road construction companies for this campaign. The safety of workers at the site and drivers moving through the work zone are their major concern.”
You can view images of some of the posters included in this campaign here.
Serving 2.2 million workers and about 188,000 employers, WorkSafeBC is a provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors and funded by employers. WorkSafeBC was born out of a compromise between B.C.’s workers and employers in 1917 where workers gave up the right to sue their employers or fellow workers for injuries on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. WorkSafeBC is committed to a safe and healthy workplace and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits to workers injured as a result of their employment.
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For further information or to arrange an interview call: |
| Gladys Johnsen |
*To learn more about traffic control persons (TCPs), read our Backgrounder.