Control pedestrian hazards

Street works present particular hazards to pedestrians and many of these hazards are discussed in Chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10. Work on a pavement or road is hazardous for both members of the public and the construction workers. Pavements should be kept clear of tripping hazards, such as trailing cables. The site must be well lit at night. Road traffic past the site may also need to be controlled to protect the workforce. Members of the public and traffic vehicles must also be protected from the elbows of loaders, excavators and cranes which may swing into their path. More detailed advice is available from the Code of Practice Safety at street works and road works related to the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991. The following points for the protection of pedestrians should be considered when work in streets or similar areas is being planned ... 

Attention to the basic science of health and safety issues not only provides an insight into the current understanding of a complex and broad-ranging subject, but also helps to eradicate misconceptions. For example, seeing is not believing where air pollution is concerned, nor is exhaust extraction a comprehensive solution to pollution control. Dust does not cease to be a problem when it settles on the floor and fully vulcanized rubber is not necessarily free of toxic hazard. The case where settled dust reduces pedestrian friction can be contrasted with that where mechanical handling creates air pollution. Without doubt the interactions of this science are complex and some procedures designed to solve one problem may merely serve to introduce another. 

ISO 26262 scales the severity of harm according to the potential injuries of passengers or other people in the area of danger. This means that the intensity or also the characteristic of malfunctions is correlates with the severity of damages. The intensity or other characteristics of malfunctions also influences other factors for the hazard and risk analyses the controllability of dangerous situations. The term controllability was chosen because in this context in an automobile this mainly refers to the driver. However ISO 26262 also considers other people, which could be able to prevent a dangerous simation, for example pedestrians who can still move out of the way of a vehicle that approaches them (Fig. 4.12). 

Traffic control will be planned in liaison with local authority and police. First-aid, welfare and emergency requirements will be assessed at the planning stage. Plans must be obtained to locate any existing hazards from services. Safe pedestrian routes will be planned. COSHH, manual handling, PPE and noise assessments must be reviewed, brought to site and the information passed to workers. 

This case study focuses on the Hazardous Event "Unintended vehicle acceleration during a low speed manoeuvre amongst pedestrians , which is classified as ASIL B based on values of E3 (medium probability), S2 (severe and life-threatening injuries, survival probable), C3 (difficult to control or uncontrollable) for the Exposure, Severity and Controllability parameters respectively. The rationale for this classification requires a detailed description of the vehicle, the operational and environmental constraints and peer systems and as such it has not been included for brevity. 

The hazards are many. As mentioned earlier, the operation of powered industrial trucks is probably the one element that causes the most injuries and incidents. Additional hazards can be found in the use of conveyors, stored or handled chemicals, movement of material at docks, trailers moving in and out of dock wells, and pedestrians in the aisles. Highly automated warehouses or distribution centers may utilize robotics, and the hazards associated with this technology would have to be recognized and controlled. The... 

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