FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (April 5, 2023) – The recent tragedy near Baltimore, Md., where six roadway workers were killed when one vehicle apparently collided with another before crashing into their work zone demonstrates the tremendous risk workers face each day while seeking to earn a living.

“These six individuals went to work that day simply to do their part to provide safe highways for the motoring public. But they didn’t make it home to their families, who are now left to grieve as they face life without them,” said ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner. “The roadway safety industry does its best to provide safe workspaces for its personnel and continually looks for new strategies to prevent such tragedies but the fact is, everyone plays a role in work zone safety and we need everyone to work with us.”

National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) was established more than two decades ago to increase attention to the need for motorists to exercise caution when approaching and passing through roadway work zones. In 2020, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 857 people were killed in work zones with another 44,240 injured, according to the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse.

The Summer issue of Roadway Safety magazine is now online and focuses on work zone awareness efforts nationwide.

From the national event in Virginia to member photos from across the country to expert insights into planning a National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) event, the magazine addresses this key industry safety effort.

Plus, this issue celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the National Work Zone Memorial, offers insights about supply chain challenges, and delves into the pitfalls of gas tax suspensions.

Check out three tools to help protect roadway workers on the job and much more in the Summer issue of Roadway Safety magazine, the flagship publication of the American Traffic Safety Services Association.

Every organization wants to avoid worker injuries but ignoring the possibility is an unwise approach.

ATSSA’s Training Department and the Roadway Worker Protection Council present the third of five Worker Safety Webinars on June 7 at 2 p.m. The June webinar covers “safety supports,” which addresses how to assist your team effectively after a workplace incident.

Alex Kelly, CEO of SALT and Company, leads each of the Worker Safety Webinars, all of which are free for members and held from 2-3 p.m. E.T. Prior to starting SALT, Kelly directed Canada’s first Vision Zero Advocate Institute, which is dedicated to supporting municipalities and businesses in the adoption of evidence-based road safety programming.

“Since 2021, ATSSA and its members have expanded their emphasis on roadway worker safety by forming the Roadway Worker Protection Council and taking coordinated steps to be proactive in protecting workers and being prepared in case tragedy strikes,” said ATSSA Vice President of Education and Technical Services Donna Clark. “This Worker Safety Webinar series is one way we are helping our members be prepared in case an incident occurs.”

The names of 10 men who were killed while working in a roadway work zone have been added to the National Work Zone Memorial.

Their deaths took place as long ago as March of 1966 and as recently as November 2021. Each man had reported for another day of work when tragedy struck, leaving behind wives, sons, daughters and parents to grieve.

The addition of these 10 men for 2022 brings the total number of lives honored on the National Work Zone Memorial to 1,602.