Toll Facility Safety Study Report to Congress - About

Toll Facility Safety Study Report to Congress
stream of the booth. This reduces the issue of vehicles not being able to see collectors crossing
behind booths (and collectors not being able to see vehicles around booths). However, it also
forces collectors to cross traffic lanes in an area where vehicles do not typically stop. Another
agency had placed their crosswalks at a significant distance downstream of the booths. This
provided the collectors with somewhat better sight lines and more time between vehicle
acceleration (from the booth) and the crossing point. However, it also meant that collectors had
a more difficult time making eye contact with stopped vehicles and with fellow collectors in
booths that might offer mutual support. There was also significant diversity in the methods used
to demark the locations where collectors should cross. Most agencies used crosswalks painted
into the pavement and jersey barriers, or railings (with openings at the crosswalks) to encourage
workers to use the cross-walk. However, a small number of agencies were not as restrictive as to
where collectors could cross – while they may still use painted crosswalks, they do not
physically channel collectors to openings with gates, etc. for fear that these barriers could present
dangerous obstructions if a collector was outside of the cross-walk area and needed to quickly
get out of the travel lanes.
Related to crosswalks, most agencies visited had implemented some type of mitigation strategy
to remind workers that they were crossing live lanes of traffic. At the most extreme end, two of
the agencies visited made use of “bars.” These are physical gates adopted from use on fire trucks
that must be carefully opened to enter into the travel lanes, but can be easily pushed through to
get out of the travel lane. At the other end of the spectrum a number of agencies had simply
stenciled or painted messages on the curbs abutting the travel lanes. These messages included
“Look ” and “Watch for Traffic.” Through conversations with collectors, the general
consensus was that such messages tended to be effective for new employees or when first added,
but became just part of the background and were ignored over time.
Several agencies visited stressed the importance of hands-free crossing. Having both hands free
while crossing makes it easier for collectors to signal to oncoming traffic and to catch themselves
if they fall. To facilitate hands-free crossing, a strategy mentioned by many agencies visited was
to issue collectors shoulder bags or backpacks in which to carry their personal belongings to the
booth (e.g., a sweater or bottle of water). In some cases the bag provided was a high-visibility
color, such as orange, to make the collector more visible to motorists. One agency visited has
even replaced their collector’s cash drawers with cash bags that they can slip into a shoulder bag
for completely hands-free crossing. Most collectors that the team talked with spoke favorably
about using carry bags.
Other mitigation strategies related to worker safety in travel lanes included requiring workers to
look over their shoulder (toward traffic) every few steps after closing barriers, providing break
areas on either side of plaza facilities to minimize the number of lanes that need to be crossed,
using attenuator trucks for all maintenance activities that require a lane closure, using side-fire
cameras to allow for maintenance work without closing a lane (i.e., cameras are mounted by the
roadside instead of overhead), and requiring maintenance workers to use a “buddy” system, with
one worker watching for unsafe traffic conditions.
Environmental Issues
Toll collectors are exposed to a range of environmental hazards on the job, such as excessive
noise and emissions. Through the site visits, the team found that agencies typically perform
some combination of the following mitigation strategies to lessen the impact of these hazards:
Appendix D – Agency Site Visits Page D-6