KEEPING ROAD SAFETY AUDITS RELEVANT: A REVIEW OF THE GUIDE TO

ROAD SAFETY PART 6

Presentation overview

The Austroads Road Safety Audit Guide is currently being reviewed.

The project is in its final stages, with a draft Guide being produced, awaiting final agreement from Austroads members.

This presentation will highlight the proposed changes to the Guide

Road Safety Audit in Australia

1994 2002 2009

• 2-year program delivery• Alignment of current road safety audit

processes and practice with a Safe System approach to road safety.

• Harmonisation of road safety audit processes across Australia and New Zealand jurisdictions.

• Production of a clear, concise and easy to use guide for practitioners.

Review of GRS Part 6: Road Safety Audit

• Question put to Working Group• Review international practice

– Guidelines– Training – Accreditation/certification

Is There a Need For a Review?

• A Safe System approach for road safety audits. • Risk management and a hierarchy of control framework.• A model Australian and New Zealand road safety audit

training and accreditation framework. • Road safety audit team composition.• Warrants for road safety audit.• Extending the reach - auditing road and traffic related areas.• The relevance and use of crash data for road safety audits.• Recommendations and responding to road safety audits. • Tools and technology to assist road safety audits.• Road safety audit checklists.

Road Safety Audit – the Review scope

• Part I Overview– The Fundamentals –a general overview of road safety

audit • For all who engage road safety audit expertise • for those who conduct road safety audits.

• Part II-Guidance for Project Managers or Sponsors• written for those who need to engage a road safety team

to review a project and who will need to consider the findings of the audit.

• Part III- Guidance for the Audit Team• written for those who will undertake road safety audits –

the team members and the team leaders.

The Proposed New Guide

• The Fundamental Principles– Parties Involved

• Client Team• Audit Team• Specialist Advisors• Communication

– Audit Team Requirements• Training and Certification• Criteria for certification• Number of Auditors• Independence• Skills Relevant

Part I -Overview

• Project Manager –delivers the project • Project Sponsor – responsible for funding the project • Project Stakeholder –includes planners, construction

managers, asset managers, operations managers • Design Team –prepares the relevant designs for the project • Construction Team –for issues encountered during

construction, and for controlling traffic during any roadworks • Service Provider – any person, contractor or organisation

required to deliver services, e.g. supplier and layer of bituminous materials

Client Team

• Professional experience 2 years • Field of experience Road safety engineering, traffic

engineering, road design, crash investigation, human factors or other road safety discipline

• Training Completion of recognised road safety audit training course

• Maintenance of experience 2 road safety audits or inspections within 2 years prior, including one design and one construction/post-construction as a qualified team member

• or Completion of an approved refresher audit course in the 2 years prior

Criteria for Audit Team Member

• Professional experience Seven years • Field of experience Road safety engineering, traffic

engineering, road design or crash investigation • Audit experience Five road safety audits/ inspections:

– two design stage – two post-construction stage audits or inspections

• Training Completion of recognised road safety audit course

• Maintenance of experience three road safety audits or inspections within two years prior, including at least one design and one construction/post-construction

• or Completion of an approved refresher audit course in the two years prior

Criteria for Audit Team Leader

• successfully completed a recognised audit training course, of at least two days duration

• at least five years experience in a relevant road design, road construction or traffic engineering field (more complicated projects require more experience)

• undertaken at least five formal road safety audits, including at least three at design stages

• kept their professional experience current by undertaking at least one audit per year

Existing requirements: Senior Auditor

• Design Stages–Feasibility–Preliminary Design–Detailed Design

• Post-Construction Stages–Pre-opening–Post-opening

Road Safety Audit Stages

• Traffic Control at Worksites• Road-related Areas– Land Use Developments–Public Transport Infrastructure–Mine Site Operations–Private Roads

Other Applications

Mine Site

• Road Safety Inspection- previously of Existing Roads– address safety concerns before crashes occur – complement a program of crash blackspot

treatment – identify road safety issues that may develop due

to changes in the road environment• Road Safety Check- an informal Audit– - eg by one auditor, for small projects

Other Road Safety Assessments

Some things are obvious

• Benefits of Audits– Safety– Financial– Quality Assurance

• The Audit Process for Project Managers– Provision for Recommendations– Responding to the Audit Report– Corrective Action Report (CAR)

• Legal Issues

Part II-Guidance for Project Managers or Sponsors

• The Process– Writing the Report

• Audit Elements– Older Road Users– Pedestrians– Disability– Cyclists– Motorcyclists– Auditing for Safe Speeds

Part III- Guidance for the Audit Team

Prompt List Sign Off extractWe have examined the plans and documents listed in this report and have inspected the subject site under day and night conditions, taking into consideration following road safety issue categories: □ Access points □ Landscaping □ Auxiliary lanes □ Roadside environment □ Tunnel and bridge structures □ Roadside hazards □ Road surface □ Safety barriers □ Drainage □ Speed zoning □ Signing and delineation □ Traffic calming treatments □ Intersections □ Likely road user behaviour

• Structure-3 Parts, different Parts for Clients and Auditors• Professional Experience for Leader increased from 5 to 7 yrs• Experience Field now includes crash investigation and not

construction• Audit Experience needs to cover both Design and Post-

construction• Mines and Public Transport Infrastructure now included• RS Inspections and Checks rather than Existing Road Audits• More emphasis on Prompt Lists, less on Check Lists• Corrective Action Report key part of Response

Summary-what’s changed

• International guidelines…?• Mandatory auditing…? • National training curriculum…?• Accreditation/certification

– National– International

Future for Road Safety Audit

Noel O’CallaghanPrincipal EngineerSafe Systems EngineeringARRB Group Adelaide Officep: 8235 3305e: noel.ocallaghan@arrb.com.au

Thank You