Posted By John Richard Challinor I have a query and wondered if anyone could assist me, possibly someone who works in the public utilities sector such as BT? We have a number of employees who undertake work alongside the highway, these are mainly persons installing way-markers and stiles in hedgerows, road safety staff who access traffic data boxes etc. who have to sometimes park their vehicles on the road whilst undertaking short term work.Short term work can be anything up to 2 hours. I am aware that Chapter 8 identifies how to sign road works but I'm not sure it identifies what should be done as regards temporary work such as that mentioned above. It is also a bit vague when it comes to what is meant by temporary. Also, is there a different way of signing when working on a road with two-way traffic as to say a narrow country lane? If someone out there has already produced a a safe system of work or has other information that might assist me in writing one I would be very grateful to receive it by e-mail if possible. Is there any training courses re' signage of temporary work alongside the highway as identified above? Regards John R Challinor Health & Safety Advisor Development Services Directorate Riverway Stafford ST16 3TJ Tel: 01785 276500 Mob Tel: 07773 791103 Fax: 01785 211279

Posted By Jan Cottrell As a Safety Officer for Birmingham City Council, Development Directorate, Highways, I regularly go out to inspect the safety of our DLO staff who are engaged in the repair of footpaths and carriageways in the Birmingham area. These jobs could be anything from a small pothole repair to a 15m patch. Some jobs may take only half an hour, some may take all morning, but we always insist that the site is appropriately signed and guarded according to the red book/Chapter 8. The safety of the public is at stake, as well as our own workers. They sometimes complain about the time it takes to put out the signs and cones in relation to the time it takes to do the job, but we regard it as mandatory, not optional. All operatives have had the appropriate training on signing, lighting and guarding. The thing to bear in mind is that if inadequate signing and guarding is done, and an incident occurs in which a member of the public, a contractor or employee is injured (or worse) the HSE, lawyers and the local media would have a field day! There's no point in skimping - it has to be done, on moral grounds as well as legal. Why take the chance?