January is R.O.A.D. Ready Month! Is Your Community on Board?

The TML Risk Pool takes saving lives, preventing injuries, and protecting property very seriously. The Pool’s Loss Prevention Department has dedicated staff and programs to help cities avoid incidents and claims before they start. One of those programs is the department’s R.O.A.D. Ready initiative. The acronym stands for:

• Recognize the hazards.
• Observe people, processes, and equipment.
• Assess the risk level.
• Determine the safest course of action.

The Pool launched the program in January 2022 and has designated each successive January as R.O.A.D. Ready month. To participate, a city should: (1) make a commitment to becoming R.O.A.D. Ready by providing internal roadway safety training or using the Pool’s resources to do so; and (2) participate in national roadway, vehicle, or work zone programs. Visit www.tmlirp.org and click on “R.O.A.D. Ready” in the Risk Management drop-down menu to learn more!

The initiative – which has been featured in the American Society of Safety Professionals’ Professional Safety Journal – is simple, but important. “Every year, American workers in professions such as road maintenance and construction face a grim reality: the risk of losing their lives while working dangerously close to traffic,” the Risk Pool’s Kolby Burkhardt and Manuel Trejo, Jr. wrote in the Journal.

Working near or on roadways – while necessary – is extremely dangerous. That’s especially true for employees who respond to roadway incidents, conduct roadway repair, or engage in right-of-way operations. But it’s also true for tasks like debris removal, traffic stops, accident scene response, graffiti abatement, and others.

Being R.O.A.D. Ready means your city is committed to continuously improving employee safety related to operations near or on roadways. The Risk Pool wants to partner with you by providing specific tools, resources, training, and loss prevention consultation to protect your employees. The Pool has designated January as R.O.A.D. Ready month, but you can participate at any time. Your participation will:

• Show that you value employees by making roadway safety a priority through appropriate policies, procedures, and continuous improvement.
• Promote R.O.A.D. Ready by participating in other national roadway, vehicle, or work zone outreach activities, such as National Distracted Driving Month, National Work Zone Safety Awareness Month, National Safety Month, and/or National First Responder Safety Program.
• Provide internal roadway safety training, or use the Risk Pool’s training programs, to help foster employee awareness of roadway hazards.

Around 300 Risk Pool Members have taken advantage of the voluntary R.O.A.D. Ready program, and the following have received all five digital badges by completing various safety activities:

• City of Baytown – Public Works and Engineering.
• City of Cibolo – Public Works.
• City of Groves – Public Works.
• City of Harlingen – Public Works.
• City of Huntsville – Solid Waste.
• City of Missouri City – Risk Management, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation.
• City of Mont Belvieu – Public Works and Fire Department.
• City of Pharr – Public Works.
• City of Port Neches – Public Works.
• City of Schertz – Public Works.
• City of Sugar Land – Risk Management, Parks and Recreation, and Public Works.
• City of Rosenberg – Utilities.
• Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1 – Maintenance and Operations.

If you are interested, please contact your designated safety and loss control consultant. In return, each participating member will receive consultative services, resources, and best practices to help reduce the potential impact of roadway exposures.

Contact the Loss Prevention team today at losspreventionmaillist@tmlirp.org or 512-491-2300 to sign up or learn more.