Are you stressed about inefficiencies and injury risks? Are you concerned about your worksite’s Lost Time Injury score? Managing a busy site and dynamic operations comes with a lot of risks, often leading to inefficiencies and unplanned downtime.
With proactive traffic management in your workplace, you can greatly reduce these problems. It’s about more than ticking a box — it’s about maximising efficiency and worker well-being with the right plans and controls to ensure your site runs smoothly.
The question is — what traffic management documentation do you need?
In this article, we discuss key types of traffic management documentation, including Traffic Management Plans and Traffic Control Maps. We explore the differences between these two documents and the value each brings to your site.
Traffic Management Documentation
Traffic Management Documentation refers to all the resources and plans used to outline your site's traffic management protocols, including:
- Traffic Management Plans
- Traffic Control Maps
- Risk Assessments
- Traffic Management Standard Manuals
What is a Traffic Management Plan?
A Traffic Management Plan details the designated pathways, vehicle operation zones and safety protocols for a site, with the aim of educating and protecting all workers and visitors. This encompasses various components, including Risk Assessments, communication plans, and contingency measures.
Traffic Management Plans account for a range of traffic types, including people, vehicles, and other mobile plant equipment, such as forklifts, rollers, and elevated working platforms. Common worksites requiring Traffic Management Plans include warehouses, industrial facilities, manufacturing plants, and distribution centres.
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What is a Traffic Controls Map?
A Traffic Control Map (TCM) is a site plan that shows the location of all physical traffic controls. The purpose is to ensure safe and efficient movement of traffic around a work site, providing a clear visual guide. Traffic Control Maps typically display:
- Safety bollards, barriers, and gates
- Mirrors
- Wheelstops and speed humps
- Linemarking
- Mobile plant pathways
- Designated pedestrian walkways and crossings
- Specific zones including driver safety zones, exclusion zones, shared zones
- Speed limits and traffic flow direction
- Entry and exit points for vehicles and pedestrians.
This map can be displayed on conditions of entry signage, included in training manuals, and posted on safety notice boards. This ensures that relevant audiences are informed appropriately.
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Traffic Controls Maps vs Traffic Management Plans — What’s the difference?
The main difference between these two resources is the format — one is a document and one is a map. A TMP is a document identifying traffic management hazards and outlining how this traffic will be managed safely. A Traffic Control Map is a site map displaying the location of all physical traffic control measures.
However, it is worth noting that both TMPs and TCMs are valuable types of Traffic Management Documentation that should be implemented together. This will help to ensure your site is operating at its safest and most efficient.
If you have more than one worksite, you may also need a Traffic Management Standards Manual to cover multi-site requirements and ensure consistency. For more information, read our full article on Traffic management plans vs traffic management standards manuals.
Traffic Management Planning Hierarchy of Controls
During traffic management planning and the implementation site safety measures, the Hierarchy of Controls determines the required course of action.
- Elimination — The best and most effective step is to eliminate all site hazards where possible.
- Substitution — If a risk cannot be eliminated, you must aim to substitute it with a safer alternative or isolate the hazard.
- Engineering controls — If a risk cannot be eliminated or substituted, you must take reasonable steps to minimise it using engineering control measures.
- Administrative controls — If risk remains, you must enforce administrative controls to control vehicle operations and pedestrian access.
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) — In addition to the above measures, personal protective equipment such as high-visibility clothing should be worn.
How can SafeQuip help?
We specialise in traffic management documentation and end-to-end implementation of traffic control measures. We will take care of all the planning and install all the safety measures for you, ensuring your site is safe sooner.
Our services include Site Safety Audits, Risk Assessments, Traffic Management Plans, Project Implementation, and more. Our process is as follows:
1. Discovery Appointment
We always start with a consultation, allowing us to fully understand your needs. Based on conversations with your key stakeholders, we will prepare a proposal for a Site Safety Audit and traffic management documentation.
2. Conduct a Site Safety Audit
Once the proposal is approved, we will complete the Site Safety Audit, providing a detailed analysis of your site and identifying any potential hazards. We will also outline how to resolve these in a practical Traffic Management Plan.
3. Project Implementation
We also manage the plan implementation, including safety barriers, line marking, speed humps, safety signage, and more. If you’re curious about how we can help, contact our team for a discovery call or complete our Site Safety Audit Quiz.