ITD From The Vault: 25 years ago:
Work zone safety campaign takes peril out of highway projects

Editor's Note: This was my first work zone safety article for the Transporter, back in 1993. I still remember the little ditty:

"…we're the cone crew, tellin' you what to do. When you see us, don't fool around. SLOW DOWN!"
Behind us is a girl or a guy, so get it in your head, 'cuz they dont want to die...SLOW DOWN!"

The approach may have changed with the passage of time - we don't use too many dancing highway cones that rap anymore - but the core message remains unchanged.

Here's the article:

Work zone safety. It's an aspect of working life that doesn't get that much attention. Practicing work zone safety, for most of us, is relatively easy:

Don't grab the sharp end of a pencil, avoid putting the inky part of a pen in your mouth, don't turn the volume on your ringer all the way up and lay your head on the phone to take a nap, and don't spill your coffee on your keyboard, or even worse, in your lap.

However, if you happen to be a highway worker, the concerns are very different. Here you are, working under the strain of noise, heat and heavy machinery for hours at a time (sometimes at night), and the only thing that separates you from hundreds of tons of speeding steel and glass is a five-pound plastic highway cone about two feet tall. It's not the safest job in the world. The 290 work zone-related accidents, five fatalities and numerous other serious injuries in Idaho over the last three years tragically prove the point.

These are frightening statistics, yet far below those recorded in other states across the nation. Idaho may not have the problem that California has, but if the figures prove anything, it's that this is a deadly serious situation. So the department took the initiative to do something about it before it became any worse. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

In October, lTD's Office of Public Affairs was awarded a federal grant to finance a work zone safety campaign, called Give 'Em A Brake. The first order of business was to galvanize resources for the assault. Public Affairs put together packets of written material, newspaper advertisements, and television public service announcements, posters and bumper stickers. To help get out the message and give it that regional appeal, 30 city and county co-participants from throughout the state were recruited.

The campaign swung into action in May, when campaign materials were sent to co-participants and the media. By the end of May, the office was active throughout the state promoting the campaign with demonstration meetings in different communities. And in the coming weeks, Public Affairs will continue on this course, visiting the districts and meeting with the media in a continued effort to get the message to the traveling public.

The first year of the grant ends September 30, at which time the program will be evaluated and suggestions for improvement made. We will retool and start over again next year, looking to pad that space between our highway workers and the passing cars with some public information and education.

Work crews are doing their part to make the roads safe. Please do yours. Give 'Em A Brake.

Published 08-24-18