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The Construction Regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act makes it mandatory that traffic control persons be protected from hazards. This requirement includes not only personal protective clothing and equipment but also measures and devices to guard against the dangers of vehicular traffic. Safety should receive top consideration in planning for traffic control.
What are the objectives of traffic control?
Traffic Protection Plan
Employers must develop a written traffic protection plan where any worker on a project may be exposed to hazards from traffic. All traffic hazards must be reduced as much as possible. Workers who may be exposed to traffic hazards must be familiar with the traffic protection plan and its control procedures.
Traffic protection plans must:
Construction Projects
O. Reg. 213/91
Part II GENERAL CONSTRUCTION
Section 26.3
26.3 (1) Despite paragraph 1 of section 26, a guardrail system that meets the requirements of this section shall be used if a worker has access to the perimeter or an open side of any of the following work surfaces and may be exposed to a fall of 2.4 metres or more:
1. A floor, including the floor of a mezzanine or balcony.
2. The surface of a bridge.
3. A roof while formwork is in place.
4. A scaffold platform or other work platform, runway or ramp.
(2) One of the following precautions shall be used to prevent a worker from falling through an opening on a work surface:
1. A guardrail system that meets the requirements of this section.
2. A protective covering that,
i. completely covers the opening,
ii. is securely fastened,
iii. is adequately identified as covering an opening,
iv. is made from material adequate to support all loads to which the covering may be subjected, and
v. is capable of supporting a live load of at least 2.4 kilonewtons per square metre without exceeding the allowable unit stresses for the material used.
(3) The guardrail system or protective covering required under subsection (1) or (2) may be removed temporarily to perform work in or around the opening if a worker is adequately protected and signs are posted in accordance with subsections 44(1) and (2).
(4) The following are the specifications for a guardrail system:
1. It shall have a top rail, an intermediate rail and a toe board.
2. The intermediate rail may be replaced by material that can withstand a point load of 450 newtons applied in a lateral or vertical downward direction.
3. Subject to subsection 116 (8), the top of the guardrail system shall be located at least 0.9 metres but not more than 1.1 metres above the surface on which the system is installed.
4. The intermediate rail shall be located midway between the top rail and the toe board.
4.1 The toe board shall extend from the surface to which the guardrail system is attached to a height of at least 89 millimetres.
5. If the guardrail system is located at the perimeter of a work surface, the distance between the edge of the surface and the guardrail system shall not be greater than 300 millimetres.
(5) A guardrail system shall be capable of resisting anywhere along the length of the system the following loads when applied separately, without exceeding the allowable unit stress for each material used:
1. A point load of 675 newtons applied in a lateral direction to the top rail.
2. A point load of 450 newtons applied in a vertical downward direction to the top rail.
3. A point load of 450 newtons applied in a lateral or vertical downward direction to the intermediate rail, or midway between the top rail and the toe board.
4. A point load of 225 newtons applied in a lateral direction to the toe board.
(6) The distance between any two adjacent posts of the guardrail system may be greater than 2.4 metres only if the system is capable of resisting the loads specified in subsection (5) increased in proportion to the greater distance between the posts.
(7) The following additional requirements apply to a guardrail system that is made of wood:
1. The wood shall be spruce, pine or fir (S-P-F) timber of construction grade quality or better and shall not have any visible defect affecting its load-carrying capacity.
2. The wood shall be free of sharp objects such as splinters and protruding nails.
3. The system shall have posts that are at least 38 millimetres by 89 millimetres, are securely fastened to the surface and are spaced at intervals of not more than 2.4 metres.
4. The top rail and the intermediate rail shall each be at least 38 millimetres by 89 millimetres.
(7.1) If a guardrail system that is made of wood is constructed and installed so that it is capable of resisting all loads that it may be subjected to by a worker, the following do not apply:
1. The requirement in paragraph 2 of subsection (4) that the replacement material can withstand a point load of 450 newtons.
2. Subsections (5) and (6).
(8) The following additional requirements apply to a guardrail system that is made of wire rope:
1. The top rail and intermediate rail shall be made of wire rope that is at least 10 millimetres in diameter, and the rope shall be kept taut by a turnbuckle or other device.
2. The outward deflection of the top rail and intermediate rail resulting from the loads specified in subsection (5) shall not extend beyond the edge of a work surface.
3. The system shall have vertical separators at intervals of not more than 2.4 metres and horizontal supports at intervals of not more than 9 metres.
4. Repealed. [O. Reg. 443/09, s. 2]
[O. Reg. 145/00, s. 14; 443/09, s. 2; 345/15, s. 6]
Section 67
67. (1) In this section,
"barricade" means a device that provides a visual indicator of the path a motorist is supposed to take;
"barrier" means a device that provides a physical limitation through which a vehicle would not normally pass, and includes a concrete barrier;
"mobile operation" means work, including a paving operation, that is done on a highway or the shoulder of a highway and moves along at speeds of less than 30 kilometres per hour.
(2) If a worker at a project on a highway may be endangered by vehicular traffic unrelated to the project, the project shall make use of as many of the following measures as is necessary to adequately protect the worker:
1. Barriers.
2. Barricades.
3. Delineators.
4. Lane control devices.
5. Warning signs.
6. Flashing lights.
7. Flares.
8. Traffic control devices.
9. Blocker trucks.
10. Crash trucks.
11. Sign trucks.
12. Speed control devices.
13. Longitudinal buffer areas.
(3) In addition to the measures listed in subsection (2) but subject to section 68, a worker may be used to direct traffic.
(4) Every employer shall develop in writing and implement a traffic protection plan for the employers' workers at a project if any of them may be exposed to a hazard from vehicular traffic.
(5) The traffic protection plan,
(a) shall specify the vehicular traffic hazards and the measures described in subsection (2) to be used to protect workers; and
(b) shall be kept at the project and made available to an inspector or a worker on request.
(6) A worker who is required to set up or remove measures described in subsection (2) on a roadway or a shoulder of a roadway,
(a) shall be a competent worker;
(b) shall not perform any other work while setting up or removing the measures; and
(c) shall be given adequate written and oral instructions, in a language that he or she understands, with respect to setting up or removing the measures.
(7) Adequate barriers shall be installed to protect workers at a project from vehicular traffic if the project,
(a) is on a freeway;
(b) is not a mobile operation; and
(c) is expected to require more than five days to complete.
(8) - (9) Repealed. [O. Reg. 345/15, s. 11]
(10) If it is not practical to install barriers as subsection (7) requires, or if the project is expected to require five days or less to complete, crash trucks shall be adequately positioned to protect workers.
(11) If work on a shoulder of a freeway is expected to take less than 30 minutes to complete, a vehicle with four-way flashers and a 360-degree beacon light shall be provided.
(12) The following measures shall be taken to protect a worker at a project if the project is on a freeway and involves a mobile operation:
1. An adequate number of crash trucks shall be adequately positioned between vehicular traffic and workers in order to adequately protect workers at the project.
2. If the operation involves intermittent stops averaging 30 minutes or less, an adequate number of barricades or delineators shall be adequately positioned between vehicular traffic and the worker.
3. If the operation involves intermittent stops averaging more than 30 minutes,
i. an adequate longitudinal buffer area shall be provided if physically possible,
ii. the lane on which work is being done shall be adequately identified with lane closure signs and a lane closure taper, and
iii. an adequate number of barricades or delineators shall be adequately positioned between vehicular traffic and the work area.
[O. Reg. 145/00, s. 21; 345/15, s. 11; 242/16, s. 7]
Application designed and maintained by the