Road Safety Matters : Road Safety Auditing

Road Safety Auditing

Road Safety Matters (RSM) can provide Road Safety Auditing services to the Road Design, Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Industries, in accordance with the requirements of the Industry Standards (NRA Road Safety Audit Guidelines HD 19/12).

RSM is included on the NRA list of Consulting Engineers approved to carry out Road Safety Audits in Ireland, with our auditors approved under the NRA online RSAAS system. Our experienced Road Safety Audit Team can respond quickly to client requirements nationwide, with site visit(s) and Audit Report typically completed within three working days.

It would be good if the following questions stand out on this page, and if clicked on will bring the reader directly to the relevant paragraph below.

Some of the frequently asked questions regarding Road Safety Auditing are as follows:

What is a Road Safety Audit?

Why do we need a Road Safety Audit?

Who is qualified to conduct a Road Safety Audit?

What type of scheme should be audited?

What are the different Audit Stages?

What is a Road Safety Audit?

Road Safety Audit (RSA) is defined as “The evaluation of road schemes (works that involve new road construction or temporary or permanent change to the existing road layout) during design and construction, before the scheme is opened to traffic, to identify potential safety hazards which may affect any type of road user and to suggest measures to eliminate or mitigate those problems” .

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The primary purpose of a Road Safety Audit is to identify potential safety hazards within a scheme design that could affect road users, and formulate recommendations for mitigating these hazards. This enables the designer to address these issues as part of the design process, prior to the scheme opening to road users.

Road safety audits are often described as a first step leading to the implementation of a complete quality management system for roads. The RSAs are carried out on the road network throughout the various stages of design, planning and construction, and involve identification of potential road safety problems and recommending solutions to ensure that new schemes and any significant changes to the existing road network are as safe as possible for all road users.

The Audits are based on a formal systematic procedure that takes into account the factors that have been found to contribute to accidents in the past and the effects that different types of scheme have had on accident rates. The Audit is not a technical check, i.e. the audit is not concerned with whether the design conforms to standards, and is not a chance to redesign a scheme.

Having identified any potential road safety risks on each design examined, taking all road users into consideration, particularly vulnerable users such as pedestrians and pedal cyclists, our Auditors then make recommendations on possible solutions to these risks. The client then reviews the findings of the Road Safety Audit, deciding which recommendations to accept and implement within the scheme design and construction.

We are always mindful of the Industry recommendations that an audit team must be independent of the design team

“A safety Audit team should comprise at least two people who are independent of the Design Team. This independence is vital to ensure that the Design Team does not influence the recommendations of the Safety Audit and therefore compromise safety at the expense of another issue"

RSM can provide a team of Independent NRA approved Road Safety Auditors (Team Members and/or Leaders) who have been responsible for carrying out a significant number of Road Safety Audits both in Ireland and the UK.

RSM advocate Collision Prevention with a proactive approach to minimisation of the risk of collisions occurring at a site before they happen through the Road Safety Auditing Process, along with implementation of Best Practice with preliminary safety design principles.

RSM can also assist Local Authorities in the preparation and verification of safety auditing policy documents and medium to long-term strategies.

Some of the clients for whom we provide ongoing Road Safety Auditing Services include Road Safety Consulting Ltd, Waterman Boreham Ltd, Tesco Ireland, NRB Consulting Engineers, PMCE Consulting Ltd, MHL Associates, Traffic Management Services, Tobin Consulting Engineers, Kieran Boyle Consulting, and Coffey Construction Ltd. Testimonials are available from existing clients upon request.

The following summarises the most recent RSM Safety Auditing experience:

Auditing of major and minor development schemes on Local, regional and National Roads.

Auditing of new and upgraded junction designs and traffic schemes in urban and rural areas

Auditing of single and dual carriageway link design – new and improved schemes

Motorway TTM auditing and post construction monitoring

Auditing of multi-modal transport provision for all road users including vulnerable and mobility impaired

Auditing of Traffic management schemes (temporary and permanent)

Auditing of minor improvement schemes, e.g. Traffic Calming Schemes

A more comprehensive list of all RSA experience can be provided for the benefit of any potential client if desired.

Why do we need a Road Safety Audit?:

The main objective of safety audit is to ensure that all highway schemes should operate as safely as possible after opening to traffic and to minimise risks to all road users.

Subsidiary objectives are:

to minimise collision rates, and severity rates, and to reduce the risk of collisions on the road network

to enhance the importance of safety in highway design

to reduce the whole-life costs of a scheme by preventing future accidents (average annual cost of a collision estimated at €62,800, averaged between all collisions resulting in fatal, serious and minor casualties).

Road Safety Audits are currently mandatory on all National Roads Scheme, and are recommended to all Local Roads Authorities for use in the preparation of their own road schemes on Regional and Local Roads. Many Local Authority Planning Departments consider it an essential, integral part of the planning process, and many private organisations also consider it as an automatic stage in the development process.

Who is qualified to conduct a Road Safety Audit?:

A Road Safety Audit can only be undertaken by a competent audit team, consisting of a minimum of two persons, independent of the Designer and approved by the NRA or Local Roads Authority, with appropriate levels of road safety engineering work and accident investigation and prevention experience.

This experience is usually provided through previous or ongoing work as a Road Safety Engineer (at least 2 years) and a certain number of RSAs and RSA Training completed in the recent past. The specifics of the qualifications for each Audit Team Leader (ATL) and Audit Team member (ATM) are outlined on the NRA website / standards and the corresponding standards for each country.

Note: The establishment of the TERN network has resulted in the provision of new EU directives regarding new Road Safety Auditor qualifications which will be required from the end of 2013.

What type of scheme should be audited?

Some examples of the types of schemes that are subject to Road Safety Audits are as follows:

Major Developments / Major Schemes

Minor Developments / Minor Improvement Schemes

Junction / Development Access

Temporary Traffic Management Diversions

Traffic Management & Traffic Calming Schemes

Pedestrian Schemes (Pelican/Puffin/Zebra Crossings)

Bus Priority Schemes (inc Bus Stops/Bus Lanes)

Light Rail Integration Schemes

Cycling & Walking Schemes (Cycle Lanes/Cycle Routes/Safer Routes to School)

Motorway Improvements

What are the different Audit Stages?

Road Safety Audits should be implemented throughout the design and construction process. Typically schemes shall be audited over a 3/4 stage process. These stages are:

Stage F: Route Selection Stage

Stage 1: Preliminary Design

Stage 2: Detailed Design

Stage 3: Construction

Stage 4/5: Post Construction/Monitoring

Stage F: Route Selection Stage:

Required prior to route choice on large scale road schemes such as motorways.
A feasibility assessment on road safety grounds

Identifying any potential safety concerns at an early stage

Stage 1: Preliminary Design:

Assessment of early design stages to identify any potential safety concerns and confirm land acquisition boundaries.

This requires a site visit and photo survey undertaken by two individuals, with the consideration of preliminary design and background data.

Stage 2: Detailed Design:

A safety assessment of the detailed aspects of the design, operation and servicing.

This requires a site visit and photo survey undertaken by two individuals, with the consideration of detailed design drawings, standard details, specification of road works, Traffic Impact Assessment Reports.

This RSA Stage must occur in advance of tender of construction contract. Design & Build stage 2 RSAs must be carried out in accordance with the contract requirements.

If, for any reason, a Stage 1 Road Safety Audit has not been carried out (for example, where a scheme is of such a scale that no preliminary design has been necessary and the scheme has progressed directly to detailed design with agreement of the appropriate Road Authority) Audit Stages 1 and 2 can be combined at Stage 2 to provide a Stage 1/2 Road Safety Audit.

Stage 3: Construction:

Audit undertaken upon completion of construction, ideally prior to opening of scheme to traffic.

Determines whether contractor has constructed the works correctly, i.e. trip hazards, poor surfacing, ponding, visibility, appropriate signs etc.

Identify any safety concerns that could not be identified until complete.

Usually involves a site visit undertaken by two auditors, and potentially a member of An Garda Siochana and a Local Roads Authority / Regional Roads Design Office Representative.

Site visit also undertaken during hours of darkness.

Stage 4: Post Construction:

Audit undertaken upon completion of construction

Issued to determine whether contractor has constructed the works correctly, i.e. trip hazards, poor surfacing, ponding, visibility etc.

Identify any safety concerns that could not be identified until complete

Usually involves a site visit undertaken by two auditors, a member of the Highway
Authority and a member of the local constabulary

Site visit also undertaken during hours of darkness

Stage 5: Monitoring:

TO DO : INCLUDE COMMENTS & COSTS

Collision Investigation

Collision Reduction

Collision Prevention

Road Safety Education and Training

Road Safety Research and Evaluation

Road Safety Impact Assessment

Road Safety Planning

Road Safety Management / Network Safety Management

Road Safety Strategy and Policy Formulation

Road Safety Campaigning and Marketing

Road Safety Consultation including Public Consultation

Road Safety Cost Benefit Analysis