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Temporary traffic management is a critical part of many road and street works projects. It helps protect workers, pedestrians, cyclists and drivers while allowing essential work to take place on or alongside the highway.
But when several organisations and individuals are involved in a project, an important question arises:
Who is responsible for making sure the traffic management is safe?
The answer can't simply be “the traffic management company”.
Clients, designers, contractors and workers can all have responsibilities, depending on their role and the nature of the work. Health and safety legislation, highway legislation and traffic-management guidance can all play a part.
This guide looks at the main responsibilities involved and explains where Chapter 8 fits into the legal picture.
What is Chapter 8?
The Traffic Signs Manual, Chapter 8, provides guidance on road works and temporary situations.
It is divided into three parts covering the design, operations and wider considerations associated with temporary traffic management. The Department for Transport describes Part 1 as guidance for the design of temporary traffic management arrangements and Part 2 as guidance for planning, managing and participating in their implementation, maintenance and removal.
Chapter 8 is therefore an important reference for anyone involved in temporary traffic management.
However, it is important to understand the distinction between guidance and legislation.
Chapter 8 Part 2 states that the Traffic Signs Manual has no statutory force in Great Britain, although it provides a code of practice intended to enable legal requirements to be met in a wide range of circumstances. It also states that compliance with Chapter 8 may assist in meeting relevant health and safety requirements.
In other words, Chapter 8 should not simply be described as “the law”.
There are separate legal requirements that apply to road works, traffic signs, health and safety and the management of construction work.
Who is responsible?
There isn't one single duty holder responsible for everything.
The responsibilities of different people and organisations will depend on their role within the project.
1. The client
The client is the organisation or individual for whom the work is being carried out.
Clients have an important role in making sure that projects are properly planned and that suitably competent organisations are appointed.
HSE guidance on temporary traffic management states that clients should appoint designers and contractors with the necessary experience, skills and knowledge to plan and complete the work safely. They should also provide sufficient information, time and resources for the work to be carried out safely.
This means that safety shouldn't be treated as something that is considered only once work reaches the road.
It needs to be considered during the planning stage.
2. The designer
The design of a temporary traffic management arrangement needs to take account of the particular road environment.
That can include factors such as:
- Traffic flows
- Road layout
- Junctions
- Pedestrian crossings
- Cycle routes
- Existing signs and road markings
- Vulnerable road users
- Local events
- Weather conditions
- Access requirements
- Nearby businesses and residents
- Existing hazards and site restrictions
Chapter 8 Part 1 specifically addresses the design of temporary traffic management arrangements and emphasises the importance of gathering relevant site information before the detailed design is undertaken.
A layout that works on one road may therefore be inappropriate on another.
3. The contractor
The contractor has responsibility for carrying out the work safely in accordance with the relevant plans, arrangements and systems of work.
For temporary traffic management, this can include establishing, maintaining, altering and removing the traffic management system.
HSE's Construction Information Sheet 53 explains that those involved in temporary traffic management need to assess the risks associated with the work and develop systems that control significant risks so far as is reasonably practicable.
The contractor also needs to consider what happens when circumstances on site differ from those anticipated during planning. For example:
- What happens if traffic conditions change?
- What happens if visibility deteriorates?
- What happens if equipment is damaged or moved?
- What happens if pedestrians can no longer use the planned route?
These are operational issues that need to be managed rather than simply assuming that the original arrangement will always remain suitable.
4. Traffic management operatives
The people physically installing, maintaining and removing traffic management are working in an environment where they can be exposed to live traffic.
HSE identifies workers involved in establishing, maintaining and removing temporary traffic management as being particularly at risk because they operate in a live traffic environment.
Workers should receive the appropriate information, instruction and training for the tasks they carry out and should follow the relevant safe systems of work.
They also have an important role in identifying problems.
If the conditions on site aren't consistent with the planned arrangement, that needs to be communicated through the appropriate channels rather than simply ignored.
What does the law say about signing, lighting and guarding?
This is an important distinction.
Chapter 8 Part 2 states that, under relevant highway legislation, the proper guarding, lighting and signing of works are the responsibility of the person carrying them out. It also notes that traffic signs and other traffic-control apparatus must conform to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions in force at the time of the works.
There are therefore several layers to consider:
Health and safety law
Requires relevant duty holders to manage workplace risks and protect workers and others who may be affected.
Highway legislation
Creates specific requirements relating to works on or affecting the highway.
Traffic-sign regulations
Govern the use of prescribed traffic signs and other traffic-control devices.
Chapter 8
Provides detailed guidance on how temporary traffic management should be designed and operated.
These shouldn't be treated as interchangeable.
Where does PPE fit in?
PPE is an important part of protecting traffic management workers, but it isn't a substitute for proper traffic management.
This is an important principle.
A worker wearing high-visibility clothing is still exposed to risk if the traffic management arrangement itself is poorly designed or implemented.
HSE's guidance on temporary traffic management focuses on identifying risks, eliminating or reducing them where reasonably practicable, and controlling remaining risks through appropriate planning and management.
PPE therefore forms part of a wider safety system.
For traffic management workers, this can include appropriate:
- High-visibility clothing
- Safety footwear
- Protective gloves
- Head protection
- Eye protection
- Weather protection
- Other task-specific PPE
The correct PPE will depend on the hazards identified by the relevant risk assessment.
Need PPE for traffic management work? Browse PK Safety's traffic management hi-vis clothing or call 01443 741999.
What happens when conditions change?
One of the biggest challenges with temporary traffic management is that the road environment isn't static.
Traffic volumes can change. Weather can deteriorate. Equipment can become damaged. Pedestrian routes can become obstructed. Unexpected hazards can appear.
Chapter 8 Part 2 covers operational issues associated with implementing, maintaining and removing temporary traffic management arrangements, including considerations around difficult conditions and site operations.
This is why traffic management needs to be actively managed rather than simply installed and forgotten.
Regular checks, appropriate communication and effective procedures for dealing with changes can all form part of maintaining a safe working environment.
So, who is ultimately responsible?
There isn't a single answer.
Responsibility is shared according to the role each person or organisation has in the project.
- The client needs to ensure the project is properly planned and suitably competent organisations are appointed.
- The designer needs to develop an appropriate traffic management arrangement based on the site and its risks.
- The contractor needs to implement and manage the work safely.
- Operatives need to be appropriately trained, follow the relevant systems of work and raise concerns when conditions aren't as expected.
And everyone involved needs to understand the relationship between legislation, regulations, guidance and site-specific risk assessment.
The key takeaway
Chapter 8 is an essential source of guidance for temporary traffic management, but it shouldn't be confused with legislation itself.
Safe traffic management relies on understanding the legal requirements, technical guidance, site conditions and risks associated with the specific work.
For anyone responsible for traffic management, the question shouldn't simply be:
“Are we following Chapter 8?”
It should also be:
“Have we identified the risks associated with this particular site, and have we put appropriate measures in place to control them?”
That's where effective traffic management and workplace safety come together.
Further reading
The official Traffic Signs Manual and Chapter 8 documents are available through GOV.UK.
HSE's Reducing risk in temporary traffic management operations (CIS53) provides further guidance for clients, designers, contractors and workers involved in temporary traffic management.
