As the conversation of operative safety continues, Highway Care wanted to learn from those who face the challenges first-hand.
Speaking with their Operations Manager, Brett Southgate; he gives his insight to why highlighting the safety of our road workers is so essential.
Q: With the highly populated road network, how do you/and your team maintain yours/each other’s safety while on site?
A: When working on the network, having a level head and eyes focused on your surroundings is essential. Not to mention, that the whole team are your eyes also. Having a close team with trust is very key, everyone looks out for each other so that the project is completed, fully, effectively, and most of all, safely.
Q: What reassures you when you and your team are on shift?
A: The knowledge that our team are there to fully support one another and the trust we have in each other. Q: Why do you think that operatives' safety needs to be more widely highlighted across the highway network?
A: Working on the highway network never seems to be very dangerous on face value and to outsider perspectives.
Most of the time it is not what is going on within your work area that elevates risk; it is what others are doing around the work area.
The public sometimes only see the long line of cones and roadworks, but the safety measures we must provide is to benefit not just us but for road users alike. If this were more widely understood, happenings like recent viral video footage of road worker abuse would not be as common.
For the team at Highways Care and many road workers across the UK, providing safety is essential for both road users and workers; as the people who are working on the highway network want to get home safely to their families, and I believe that educating this fact is key for future understanding of the operative community.
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