This paper aims to demonstrate how good practice in safety management is about delivering a level of safety throughout the whole life of a scheme, a road, a route or a network. This concept is considered in relation to the Highways Agency's management of the trunk road network of the UK. Three concepts are identified as contributing to the safe operation of a road network: design, maintenance and accident investigation. All improvement work undertaken on the trunk road network is designed using standards and advice notes contained within the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. This allows safety to be `designed in' on a scheme. It is then important to maintain the network, e.g. road markings, skid resistance, potholes, road signs, lighting, and bridge parapet rails. The Highway Agency's Safety Strategic Plan is communicated by three inter-linked documents: a document entitled `Making the Network Safer' directed at people outside the Agency; documents providing area and route managers with annual data giving network-wide overviews of safety, current safety research, and the effectiveness of schemes in reducing accidents; and live operational folders focused on local route orientated data.
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