The Road Worker Safety Governance Group is seeking expressions of interest from expert practitioners, to join an industry steering group for road worker safety.
The group’s first priority will be to support the implementation of a new approach to temporary traffic management (TTM) as New Zealand transitions away from a government-led compliance-based model to an industry-led risk-based model.
Helen Davidson, CE of ACE New Zealand said collaboration would be key to a successful transition, and the role of the industry steering group will be to represent the views of the collective TTM industry to enable aligned decision making.
“This important 12-person industry group will ensure a smooth transition and reinforces the industry’s collective commitment to improving safety for road workers and road users as we work towards our vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads”.
Civil Contractors New Zealand Technical Manager Stacy Goldsworthy said the move to establish an industry-focussed steering group heralded a new era of temporary traffic management, where the health and safety of all road workers and road users would be paramount.
“This has been in the works for a long time. It’s great to see the transition to an industry-led approach to temporary traffic management finally happening”, Mr Goldsworthy said.
“We now need people from within the industry to step up and take the lead on how new guidance will be implemented across Aotearoa New Zealand’s road works in practical terms as the transport agency transitions from a compliance-based system role to a risk-based role.”
The initial key focus of the group would be on supporting a successful transition from using the Code of Practice for Temporary Traffic Management (CoPTTM) to manage road work site traffic control to the New Zealand Guide for Temporary Traffic Management (NZGTTM).
Mr Goldsworthy said the establishment of the Steering Group was enabled by Waka Kotahi, which was now supporting the creation of the industry group to inform the transition to the new risk-based guidance from WorkSafe and Waka Kotahi.
“We have a clear mandate from the Road Worker Safety Governance Group – which includes representatives from WorkSafe, Waka Kotahi, suppliers and other client groups, that they want industry to own the future state and lead the way to meet safety outcomes for everyone working on our roads and all road users travelling through work sites.”
Expressions of interest
Expressions of interest can be submitted to ttm@nzta.govt.nz by Friday 17 March with a statement describing their capabilities, experience, and confirming they are supported by their employer to contribute their time to the Steering Group.
Find out more
For more information on the steering group, please check out the following documents:
For any questions, parties can contact Civil Contractors New Zealand Technical Manager Stacy Goldsworthy on 021 786 479 or Stacy@civilcontractors.co.nz.
About the Road Worker Safety Governance Group
The Road Worker Safety Governance Group includes representatives from WorkSafe, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, suppliers, client groups such as local councils and industry groups including Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ) and the Association of Consultants and Engineers (ACE NZ).
The group considers how interventions from Waka Kotahi and the sector contribute to keeping road workers and road users safe and well at road work sites. Their scope includes road workers and all those travelling through road work sites including drivers, pedestrians and people on bikes.
The group’s scope also includes how temporary traffic management keeps people safe and how other health, safety and wellness critical risks are being managed at road work sites.