Occupational Safety and Health in Highway Maintenance Yards: an Approach Suitable to Face Special Criticalities

Abstract

On the request of Prosecutor Office, the Authors carried out a research work to define the extent of the Occupational Safety and Health - OS&H criticalities affecting the highway maintenance yards, in normal and special scenarios where hazardous freights are involved. The high number of work related accidents in maintenance/improvement yards, often characterized by dramatic Severity Rates, requires a special Risk Assessment and Management. The paper summarizes the results of a research leading to identify the main parameters directly or indirectly conditioning the design and safety of the highway maintenance yards. We developed a schematization of yard typologies and contexts, upon which a thorough Risk Assessment and Management becomes possible. Moreover, an original Accident Analysis Technique provided precious support to the study, filling the gaps of information on the Standards violations of some accident databases. Finally, the paper discusses some innovative Safety Control measures for different highway scenarios.