Baselining Road Works Safety on European Roads

The BRoWSER project addresses the issue of the safety of road workers and interaction with road users. The research seeks to significantly reduce risks to road workers with an objective of Zero Harm. The BRoWSER project will enable national road authorities to understand how, when and where their workers (or people working for them) are harmed when working on the roads. This knowledge of how road workers are exposed to risk from accidents and road user error is essential for effective safety management as it allows the real risks to be managed rather than those perceived to be the problem.

In addition to the data provision, the project will also provide recommendations for harmonising road works layouts across Europe. This will build on previous research but importantly will show how the potential for driver confusion, increased accident risk and risk to road workers can be reduced. This will carry transnational benefit in reducing collisions and injuries to road workers, contributing to the Zero Harm vision of this project. By drawing upon the strengths of the five EU research institutions partnered in this project, all of whom are currently working together on the ERA-NET ROAD STARS (Scoring traffic at Roadworks) project and by collecting the data and documentation required for the two objectives in parallel, the consortium brings together exceptional relevant expertise and a cost effective approach to delivery.

The BRoWSER project will collect data for road worker accidents, incidents and near misses (where available) alongside data for road works practices, network characteristics and road user accident data for road works. These data will be collected in parallel, offering significant synergy and costeffectiveness. In addition, we will make the raw data available to other consortia delivering projects in support of Part 1 of the Call as requested by the Project Executive Board.

The research will identify the benefits, costs and thus the case for establishing a EuRoWCas database from first-hand engagement with the end users of such a product and by providing initial data that can be used to validate these likely benefits. These initial data for 2013, 2014 and the first part of 2015 will form a core of information that can be made available to national road authorities and others to deliver reduced risk for road workers in advance of any future transnational data source.

The project will also provide a suite of tools to enable national road authorities to collect data. This will be either standard EuRoWCas data or enhanced EuRoWCas data. The standard EuRoWCas data will provide a baseline level data source that will meet the objectives of the Description of Research Needs and support road worker safety improvements. The enhanced EuRoWCas (eEuRoWCas) data will be enhanced with additional common information that is captured by countries where road worker safety is already embedded within the safety management processes of the National Road Authorities.

The EuRoWCas data will be supported by a data structure, pilot on-line data source and data browser showing the power of the data source for guiding delivery of reduced risk to road workers. This will promote the adoption of good quality accident data that is compatible between EU countries, even if the decision is made not to develop the EuRoWCas approach any further. The eEuRoWCas data will provide additional information that, while not always common to all EU countries, will give enhanced understanding of road works accidents.

Furthermore the project will deliver an understanding of whether there is a difference between national standards for road works and what this means in terms of accident rates. This knowledge will enable development of recommended national consistency measures for consistent road works across the EU. Adoption of these measures will depend on the cost and difficulty of their implementation, but the minimum standard proposed will ensure that minor changes can be introduced that will achieve significant benefits for both road worker and road user safety.