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668 HAZWOPER for General Site Workers IX
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Traffic Control

Traffic controls should conform to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

Maintenance Crews - Texas

The MUTCD contains the national standards governing all traffic control devices. All public agencies and owners of private roads open to public travel across the nation rely on the MUTCD to bring uniformity to the roadway.

Safety precautions for traffic control workers include all of the following:

  • Provide adequate and appropriate traffic controls for all construction projects on or adjacent to a highway, street, or roadway.
  • Provide signaling by trained and qualified flaggers.
  • Provide barricades for protection of employees.
  • Ensure employees set up appropriate traffic controls when they stop on or are adjacent to a highway, street, or road in a way that creates a hazard and when traffic cannot adjust safely on its own.

Traffic Control Devices

A traffic control device should meet five basic requirements:

  1. fulfill a need
  2. command attention
  3. convey a clear, simple meaning
  4. command respect from road users
  5. give adequate time for proper response

High-Visibility Garments

Employees exposed to hazards caused by on-highway type moving vehicles in construction zones and highway traffic should wear highly visible upper body garments.

  • The colors should contrast with other colors in the area to make the worker stand out.
  • Colors should be equivalent to strong red, strong orange, strong yellow, strong yellow-green, or fluorescent versions of these colors.
  • During hours of darkness, the garments must also have reflective material visible from all sides for 1,000 feet.

For more information on powered industrial trucks (forklifts) see OSHA's PIT (Forklift) Homepage .

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.

7-10. During hours of darkness, the garments for work in construction zones and highway traffic should have reflective material visible _____.