SCAPA Member Wins National Award for Safety Innovation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: 

July 9, 2018 At NAPA, Kelly Kanaras, (888) 468-6499 

kkanaras@asphaltpavement.org 

At The Lane Construction Corp., Lauralee Heckman, (203) 439-2153 

LHeckman@laneconstruct.com 

 

 

THE LANE CONSTRUCTION CORP. WINS 

NATIONAL AWARD FOR SAFETY INNOVATION 

 

Lanham, Md. — The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) announced today that The Lane Construction Corp. of West Columbia, S.C., is a winner of the 2017 Asphalt Operations Safety Innovation Award. The company was recognized Monday, July 9, at a ceremony honoring the Operational Excellence Award recipients during the NAPA Midyear Meeting in Boston. 

 

"NAPA members strive for excellence beyond constructing high-quality asphalt pavements. The five categories of the Operational Excellence Awards — Asphalt Operations Safety Innovation, Community Involvement, Ecological, Outstanding Brochure, and Outstanding Website — recognize a company’s commitment to operations that make them good contractors, good industry ambassadors, and good neighbors," said NAPA Chairman Craig Parker. 

 

The Asphalt Operations Safety Innovation Award recognizes the development and implementation of innovative ideas that lead to improved worker safety in a roadway work zone, plant site, or quarry environment, and companies whose safety practices go above and beyond industry standards. 

 

Overhead hazards can pose significant dangers to employees if not adequately assessed and addressed. While researching overhead powerline hazards, The Lane Construction Corp’s Safety Team for the Carolinas learned that many workers had misconceptions about the relative danger of overhead utility lines, believing that little harm could come from cable television and telephone lines. The workers were also unaware that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) required employees and equipment be kept a minimum of 10 feet from any line with 50,000 volts or less running through it. To address this safety concern, Lane developed the Cones for Life program, which is now a best practice for the company. 

 

Gathering information from OSHA, the local utilities department of Rock Hill, S.C., and online sources, Lane created a specialized training program to educate every crew in the Carolinas on overhead threats, procedures to follow to prevent injury, and emergency procedures in the event a crew member comes in contact with high voltage electricity. 

 

As part of the new safety program, neon green-colored cones were chosen to identify the overhead utility line hazards. The green cones were chosen because they stand out from the large number of orange cones typically found in a work zone. 

 

"By choosing a different color safety cone, we hope the cones will grab the attention of work crews and ensure they acknowledge the hazard," Lane Senior Safety Supervisor for North Carolina Rusty McElroy said. "I saw that certain long-duration projects use these bright green signs and the green color helped make sure the sign was noticed." 

 

When it is time for crews to set up a work zone, they refer to the work zone maps to identify where orange cones should be placed on the left side of a lane for traffic control and where the green cones should be placed on the right side of the lane to identify overhead powerline hazards. At the start of each shift, a safety huddle reminds the crew about identified hazards in the work zone and the new best practices. Each move of the work zone requires checking the map for orange and green cone placements in the new location. 

 

 

The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) is the only trade association that exclusively represents the interests of the asphalt producer/contractor on the national level with Congress, government agencies, and other national trade and business organizations. NAPA supports an active research program designed to improve the quality of asphalt pavements and paving techniques used in the construction of roads, streets, highways, parking lots, airports, and environmental and recreational facilities. The association provides technical, educational, and marketing materials and information to its members; supplies product information to users and specifiers of paving materials; and conducts training courses. The association, which counts more than 1,100 companies as members, was founded in 1955.