"Cone Zone" Season In Full Swing

Please slow down for roadside workers

It’s the busy season for maintenance on roads, utilities, and parks. This means City of Courtenay parks and public works crews are working on or around city streets, and traffic control personnel may be guiding commuters, pedestrians and cyclists around work zones. Other work sites may simply be marked by small orange cones.

Speeding and distracted drivers can seriously injure or kill roadside workers.

To help keep workers safe, a joint provincial initiative has created the “Cone Zone” campaign at www.ConeZoneBC.com

The website includes resources for drivers, employers, supervisors and workers.

The Cone Zone website offers these three simple ways drivers can save a worker’s life:

• Slow down and drive with extreme care near a Cone Zone
• Stay alert and minimize distractions
• Think about every cone as if a human being were standing behind it

Paige Knapman, the city’s occupational health and safety advisor, said worker safety is a priority for the City of Courtenay. “We are constantly reviewing our safety procedures to find ways to improve,” noted Knapman. “Keeping workers safe while out in the public is a team effort, and we need everyone to do their part.”

Statistics show that workers behind each work zone cone are vulnerable. In British Columbia, on average 23 roadside workers are injured each year when struck by passing drivers, and one is killed.

“We’re fortunate that we’ve never had a work zone fatality in Courtenay, but we’ve had several close calls over the years; it’s a big concern for us,” advised Knapman. “It’s obviously also a worry for our workers and their families. Please slow down, pay attention, and obey signage and traffic control personnel, as lives truly do depend on it.”