Carlos Riera, a General Manager of TMS Solutions Limited (Qatar) presented to a large group of highways and transportation professional at a seminar organized by the Qatar Group of Chartered Institute of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) in Doha, Qatar on 10th October 2017 the subject of “Road worker Safety”.

 

The audience listened to Carlos explain safety principles that included the Safe System Approach, referenced in the Qatar Work Zone Traffic Management Guide, and the methods and range of devices to be used in combination for temporary traffic management layouts and diversions to ensure protection of road workers.

 

Carlos introduced different techniques  adopted by TMS Qatar for the planning and execution of temporary lane closures.  He demonstrated  the benefits  of using single/multiple Truck Mounted Attenuator (TMA) or crash cushion vehicles for emergency, routine and standard traffic management works and how they were deployed according to the carriageway speed limt.   Carlos went onto described  how the crash cushion element of the TMA absorbs energy when struck thereby to reducing the potential of  life threatening injuries and reducing injury severityto vehicle occupants in certain crash conditions.  It was explained that the TMA vehicle is crash tested and approved by Ashghal, and it is noticeably highly successful in reducing casualty numbers in roadworks in Qatar since the Work Zone Traffic Management Guide was introduced in 2013. 

 

For roadworks that take place on local roads where there is typically less road space available, TMS has used a smaller size TMA truck (approved and crash tested). For the future, it was explained that certified third party training will be available in Qatar to improve awareness and provide practitioners with vocational qualifications. 

 

CIHT Qatar is sponsored by AECOM, DCE, Egis, Fugro, PAF, Seero and WSP.