Construction trucks and community safety newsletter
This is the October 2023 edition of the Construction Trucks and Community Safety Project Newsletter.
HIRA tool now online
As part of the effort to ensure active transport users are kept safe during construction periods, a route selection tool has been developed to help construction companies choose the route that provides the safest outcomes to vulnerable road users (‘VRUs’).
The Human Impact Route Assessment (‘HIRA’) tool was developed by the Construction Trucks and Community Safety project route selection working group, including members from VicRoads and Aurecon who were part of the Metro Rail joint venture partnership.
Our route selection tool is now available online, along with a new instructional video and facilitators overview. It can be accessed through the VicRoads website on the Construction trucks and community safety webpage. The excel version can be printed out and used in the workshops.
The HIRA tool can be used by construction companies undertaking projects involving significant heavy vehicle movements to ensure their trucks are travelling on the safest routes, limiting interactions with pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, or introducing suitable countermeasures to make particular locations safer.
The tool supports and promotes the collaborative decision making between construction companies working with key stakeholders.
This includes enabling local and state government authorities to identify and select safe truck routes during the construction of major projects. Through discussing and rating the various routes available, these representatives are actively considering the impacts of routes on VRU safety.
The broader implications of the increased use of the HIRA tool by construction companies is far-reaching. The increased accessibility of the HIRA tool through its online presence will help construction companies to utilise the tool and thereby proactively consider the safety of VRUs during their route selection process.
Updated temporary traffic management resource
We have recently updated our key temporary traffic management resource.
The Safety Essentials: Accommodating Pedestrians and Bicycle Riders at Temporary Road Works Best Practice Guidance resource is designed to be used as a reference tool by companies in the process of developing Traffic Management Plans in Victoria. The updated resource incorporates recent amendments to the Austroads Guides to Temporary Traffic Management (‘AGTTM’) and summarises traffic management industry standards and guidelines concerning pedestrians and bicycle riders.
This resource has been specifically designed with the safety of VRUs at the forefront, to ensure that traffic management planning adequately considers the implications of temporary traffic management on pedestrian and bicycle rider movement.
With increasing numbers of people walking and cycling in Victoria, together with the demand for greater density in land use, it’s becoming even more important to actively consider VRUs in temporary traffic management planning.
Toolbox talks for truck drivers
Pedestrian safety, bicycle rider safety and blind spot awareness
Toolbox Talks are an effective and cost-efficient way of communicating information and knowledge about driving safety, health and safety, and operational issues within a workplace.
Working alongside the National Road Safety Partnership Program and adding to their range of Toolbox Talks, we have prepared a suite of Toolbox Talks for distribution to truck drivers covering the following topics: pedestrian safety, bicycle rider safety and blind spot awareness. These Toolbox Talk packages are designed to provide Team Leaders/Managers and Facilitators with all the resources and information required to conduct a toolbox safety talk on the designated topic.
Each package contains a generic overview of the discussion, topic background information and fact sheet, discussion prompt sheet, participant attendance record sheet, participant self- assessment sheet, discussion review sheet, poster, support PowerPoint slides and a video.
These Toolbox Talks are available on the VicRoads' Construction Trucks and Community Safety web page, or via the National Road Safety Partnership Program web page where a number of other Toolbox Talks are also stored.
Public education campaign coming soon…
We are pleased to advise that we are currently planning a public education campaign to raise awareness of construction trucks and VRU safety.
The campaign will aim to educate pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists on safe travel behaviours when sharing the roads with trucks in both metropolitan and regional settings.
This campaign is earmarked to go live in Spring and will involve several Swapping Seats activations in addition to targeted safety messaging delivered through various media channels.
Stay tuned for further details, including Swapping Seats activation dates. If you would like to receive a stakeholder pack related to this campaign, please let us know.
In the meantime, download the tiles and animations from the Construction Trucks and Community Safety webpage and use them through your communication channels to let bicycle riders know how to stay safe when cycling near construction trucks.
Other resources
The Construction Trucks and Community Safety webpage on the VicRoads website contains links to all the relevant resources, including the online HIRA tool, model contract clauses, our updated temporary traffic management resource, and a range of relevant tiles and animations highlighting key safety messages for road users when travelling around trucks.
Check out the Construction Trucks and Community Safety web page.
The Construction Truck and Community Safety project is a multi-stakeholder project supported by Road Safety Victoria, Department of Transport and Planning, Victoria.
Key partners
- Road Safety Victoria, Department of Transport and Planning
- Transurban
- TAC
- Bicycle Network
- Municipal Association Victoria (MAV)
Find out more
If you would like to get in touch please email us.