Fulton Hogan’s commitment to road safety has been further underlined by three initiatives – introducing new technology to make traffic management on road construction sites safer, a new road safety sponsorship and a key appointment.

Technology:
The NZ Transport Agency has endorsed the introduction of eSTOP remote traffic signals that Fulton Hogan has introduced, following the company’s commitment to protect manual traffic controllers (Stop and Go sign operators) from direct contact with traffic by June 2020.

eSTOP are remote-controlled traffic lights managed by controllers who are well off the road – outside the ‘line of fire’. The first eSTOP will be used in a demonstration to NZTA in the Tasman Region and it’s envisaged the company could use a significant number of these across the country.

“eSTOP is an important step forward in keeping our suppliers’ employees safe when working on the state highway network and, ultimately, on all roads where this system will be used into the future,” NZTA’s principal CoPTTM Advisor Neil Greaves said.

“The champion for change has been Fulton Hogan’s Damien Houlahan, whose quiet perseverance and diligence over the past 14 months has been pivotal in this technology gaining approval for New Zealand roads.”

Damien said it was well documented that the manual traffic controller is the most vulnerable person on a worksite, with minimal protection from traffic.

“With eSTOP, traffic controllers are away from the live lane of traffic and they can monitor and control the traffic in real-time from a safe location. In addition to safety, this has major benefits when there’s ‘tidal’ traffic, in particular during rush hours.”

Sponsorship
Fulton Hogan has become the gold sponsor of road safety charity Brake New Zealand. Brake (www.brake.org.nz) is committed to education about safer use of our roads and to providing support and guidance for those bereaved as a result of road accidents.

The aim is to work with Brake to explore opportunities to further test and share best practice initiatives, including around driver behaviour and worker safety on road construction sites. Brake was established in the UK in the 1990s and launched more recently in New Zealand by Caroline Perry after working with Brake in the UK.

Road Safety manager appointment
Fulton Hogan has appointed its first ever designated road safety manager. Ryan Rolston has joined Fulton Hogan from Christchurch City Council where he was the traffic operations team leader, prior to which he was a consultant transport engineer.

Ryan says road safety is the biggest transport challenge facing the country at present.

“It’s a challenge, not only because of the scale and human cost, but because the solutions are far from obvious,” Ryan says. “With a strong government focus on safety at present we have the potential to make dramatic improvements to the road toll in the next decade, and that will be a great thing to be a part of.”