Safety audits were formalised in the Road Traffic Act 1988. The emphasis on engineering based road safety work was previously on accident reduction, but attention has recently turned to accident prevention. This centres on a safety audit. This will be carried out most successfully by safety specialists in close liaison with the design team. According to RTA 1988, safety audits are applicable to: major road construction schemes, minor improvements, traffic management schemes, development proposals, maintenance work and existing roads. There should be five stages: feasibility stage, preliminary design, detailed design, pre-opening review and post-opening monitoring. The audit should be fully documented. Audit should cover: geometric design, road markings, road signs and furniture, road surface, traffic management, roadworks and maintenance. Auditing must be a systematic process based on check lists, specially designed for different types of schemes. Post-opening monitoring is vitally important. A recent review of resource requirements indicates that an average audit team comprised 2-3 people, and typical staff time input was 25 person hours, with a range extending from 2 to 109 hours. The review also indicates that cost of redesign necessitated by the audit is 0.5% for schemes costing below ú500,000 and 3% for schemes costing above 500,000.
Abstract