AHTD and Mack-Blackwell Center Win Work Zone Safety Awareness Award

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MBTC AWARD: On left, Farrell Wilson, coordinator of special projects for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department public affairs, and Melissa Tooley, director of the Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center, with the 2005 Work Zone Safety Awareness Award.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department and the Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center at the University of Arkansas are the recipients of the 2005 Roadway Work Zone Safety Awareness Award, sponsored by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association and the National Safety Council.

The award was presented to Farrell Wilson, special projects coordinator for the AHTD, and J.L. Gattis, a UA professor of civil engineering, on Sept. 29 during the 2005 Intertraffic North America Trade Show and Convention in Baltimore, Md.

The competition recognizes outstanding efforts to help reduce roadway work zone construction accidents, injuries and fatalities. The awards are divided into four categories: private outreach campaigns, government outreach programs, safety training and innovations in technology. An independent panel of judges reviewed the entries and selected the winners. The joint submission by AHTD and the Mack-Blackwell Center was the single winner in the safety training category.

"Work zone safety is a top priority of the AHTD. Ensuring that every engineer, inspector and construction worker is fully trained in safe work zone designs protects motorists and all the men and women who are working to construct and maintain Arkansas' highways," said AHTD Director Dan Flowers. "We are honored that this partnership project with the Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center has been recognized in this way by ARTBA and the National Safety Council."

Gattis produced the videos with funding from the AHTD, along with filming and editing by the university’s media services department. He designed this instructional video tool to allow inspectors and workers to see work zone situations and potential hazards as they develop and change over time. The series offers five productions ranging in length from 15 to 30 minutes and uses a blend of narration, on-camera spokespeople, and round table discussion to explain construction scenes, graphics and illustrations of actual work zone areas. The series has been promoted and distributed to all AHTD field offices for inspection personnel to review as needed. The videos have also been distributed upon request to outside organizations.

Highway work zone safety is an important issue in the United States. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association, 768 people are killed and another 40,000 are injured in motor vehicle crashes each year in highway work zones. Sixteen percent of these fatalities involve non-motorists, and 24 percent involve large trucks.

"The videos contain the same information that can be found in the 'Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices,’" Gattis explained. "But the videos allow us to show terrain features and other visuals to make the information more understandable. A work zone is a dynamic situation and a written manual can’t show that."

Gattis has produced five work zone safety videos:

Gattis has also released a sixth video called Driving in Orange. It is intended to inform the general public on safe driving practices in work zones. "Our inspectors put safety first all of the time. Safe travel for the public is the biggest part of their job," said Flowers. "These videos serve as a review for new employees to make them aware of the standards we need to follow. Professor Gattis took a different approach and made the videos accurate and easy to understand."