Road Safety Auditing

Presented by: Eng. Yousef Abu Jubba

Contents

RSA Definition 1

Objectives2

Criteria of auditors3

Stages of RSA4

DefinitionRoad Safety Audit may be defined as the

formal examination of the planning, design and construction of road projects,

And of the characteristics and operation of an

existing road, By independent and qualified examiners,

To identify any potentially unsafe feature or operational arrangement that may adversely effect the safety of any road user.

Objectives

The goal of the RSA is translated into the following objectives:

The identification of potential safety hazards on new road projects, at the appropriate stage, so that they can be eliminated or otherwise treated to mitigate their adverse effects, at minimum cost.

The identification of hazardous features of an existing road so that they can be eliminated or otherwise treated before they become accident prone locations.

Cont.

To ensure that the safety requirements of all road users are explicitly considered in the planning, design, construction and operation of road projects.

To reduce the overall through life costs of a road project to the community.

Criteria of auditors

Skills and Experience are required.• Usually people competent and experienced in the work

associated with traffic accident investigations and countermeasures have most of the basic skills required for the road safety audit.

Independence of Auditors.• The credibility and effectiveness of RSA is greatly influenced

by the degree of independence of the auditors from the planning, design or construction teams involved in the development of the project.

Cont.Accreditation of auditors.• The individual people undertaking a RSA must have an

accreditation for this work and be identified in the Audit Report which this accreditation be based on an assessment of the person’s knowledge of road safety principles, practices , training courses and general knowledge and experience in road and highway engineering.

Arrangements for doing the audit.• The arrangement for doing the project during the stages is

involved three parties : The designer of the project (Contractor), The client (Road authority, represented by the Project manager) and The auditor (Consultant engaged by the client).

Stages of RSA

Stage 4:The pre-opening Stage

Stage 5:RSA of an existing road

Stage 1:Feasibility& Planning Stage

Stage 2:Draft (Preliminary) Design StageStage 3:

Detailed Design Stage

RSA

Road Safety Audit

Cont. Feasibility & Planning Stage:• It’s the earliest recognized stage and may not be applicable

where this stage will identify safety problems associated with the overall concept for a project, road network safety implications, route options, intersection and interchanges types and locations.

Draft Design Stage:• It is at this stage that many of the traffic engineering features

of a project are established. Most of these, such as cross section elements, intersection/interchange layout, lane and carriageway layout, traffic control options and alignment standards.

Cont. Detailed Design Stage:• In carrying out detailed design, designers are continually making

balances and judgments to the project. This stage will test the design decisions made against road safety objectives and also identify potential hazards resulting from adverse combinations of choosing a series of design criteria.

The Pre-opening Stage:• Audit at this stage involves all site inspections of a project. The

actual placement of items such as guard railing, traffic signing, street lighting, landscapes etc… should be given to checking that the respective needs of all road user groups meet desirable safety standards which that will be the last chance to make sure that the project opens to traffic in the best condition to provide safe and efficient operations.

Cont.

RSA of An Existing Road:• An audit at this stage will identify safety problems which

develop due to the normal `wear and tear` from traffic operations and also identify hazards due to the way the landscaping has matured, e.g. trees and foliage obstructing traffic signs or sight distance impaired which correct potential hazards before accident occur due to them.