A new advocacy initiative by the Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA) is aiming to provide more protection for the workers building, repairing and maintaining the province’s roads.
Earlier this month members of ORBA and LiUNA met with Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria and Minister of Labour David Piccini.
“The purpose of the meeting was to bring to the government’s attention an issue that is near and dear to our members hearts, which is greater protections for road maintenance workers,” said Steven Crombie, senior director of public affairs with ORBA.
“We’re working with the government on an advocacy initiative to amend the Highway Traffic Act to include the ‘Slow Down, Move Over’ provisions, which would require motorists to reduce their speed and switch lanes when possible when approaching road maintenance workers or other roadside workers.”
Every year, frontline road workers are injured or fatally struck by passing vehicles. While other industry groups have advocated for this in the past, ORBA has picked up the baton on the issue this year, said Crombie.
“We believe that we’re starting to make significant progress with this government and that they’re hearing us,” he explained.
Part of the problem is that the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) Road Safety Annual Report data does not capture incidents related to roadside workers, a presentation by ORBA states.
“Struck by” incidents are one of the most prevalent causes of injury in the construction sector. That includes being run over, crushed between two objects or hit by material moved by construction equipment.
Every other province in Canada, with the exceptions of P.E.I. and Ontario, include provisions that protect roadside workers.
Currently, Ontario’s Traffic Act Section 159 (2,3) Slow Down, Move Over only includes emergency vehicles and tow trucks.
“We’re just looking to extend these provisions to highway maintenance workers,” Crombie noted.
New provisions needed in Ontario: ORBA
In B.C., motorists are required to slow down and move over for all vehicles stopped along the road that have flashing red, blue or yellow lights, including maintenance workers, utility workers, police, fire, ambulance, tow trucks, Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement personnel, land surveyors, animal control workers, garbage collectors and other roadside workers.
Motorists must slow their speed to 70 km/h when in an 80 km/h or over zone and 40 km/h when in an under 80 km/h zone.
If travelling on a multi-lane road, drivers must move into another lane to pass when passing stopped vehicles with a flashing light, where it’s safe to do so.
Drivers who fail to adjust their speed or move over could receive a $173 traffic violation ticket which also carries three penalty points.
ORBA is hoping something similar is implemented in Ontario. It’s anticipated there will be a sixth edition of the Working for Workers Act released in the fall legislative session and ORBA would like to see amendments to the Highway Traffic Act included in that, Crombie said.
“The message was very well received. They understand that more needs to be done to protect our front-line field staffs’ safety in the roadbuilding industry,” Crombie said of the meeting with the ministers. “We understand that the government has some long-term capital commitments to building and expanding our highway infrastructure. We’ll need to also include protection measures to ensure that this work is done safely.”
In terms of the perception of roadbuilding, prospective entrants believe careers in the road construction and maintenance sector are high-paying and sustainable but also dangerous. This can create labour market challenges.
“Ontario’s roadbuilding sector will struggle to recruit and retain the tens of thousands of new workers needed if the industry is perceived to be dangerous,” states the presentation.
“Labour market scarcity will impact project delivery for MTO capital plans. By using legislative tools available, MTO and MLITSD (Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development) can make road construction safer for frontline workers.”
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