Project Management Assignment: Mitigation Strategy Against Workplace Risk Factors Of Construction Road Traffic Controllers
Question
Task: Researchers of their own communities of practice – workplace researchers – are researchers who, while retaining their established role in a community, add to it the role of insider researcher for a specific purpose and duration….In this sense, the workplace researcher’s activities potentially change their community, their perception of the community and the community’s longer-term view of them (Gibbs, 2007, p. 223).
Problems that confront professionals in the workplace are ill-defined and complex. The ability to define a problem, and collect and analyse relevant information using appropriate research methods is essential to professional practice. From a learning perspective, one of the most effective ways of achieving this is to consolidate and extend previously acquired skills and knowledge through an activity that is relevant to industry and, where possible, is associated with a specific workplace.
This project is an opportunity to develop research skills by undertaking a project of relevance to industry. In addition, it offers you a chance to augment these skills with those that are more workplace-based; the workplace being a context which more often than not requires judgement in the form of what is generally labelled ‘practical reasoning’. Extending the domain of this project in this way also provides an opportunity for connecting aspects of learning in the Master program as a whole and its relationship to your professional development and contribution to organisational learning.
Building upon your knowledge gained throughout Project Investigation 1&2, the Final Research Report on project management assignment will provide a detailed description of the applied research project and its outcomes that address a specific professional and/or theoretical problem. You are required to include the analysis and outcome of the research synthesising this with the information in Assessment Item 1 to produce a report of the project as a whole. This will be a written report structured according to conventional research reporting requirements.
Answer
Introduction
Background
Traffic controllers are recognized to be the most stressful jobs as it requires complete concentration and can involve life hazards under extreme pressure. According to the report, about 1.3 million people die each year due to road crashes and among them, 30% of people designated as traffic controllers turn to major injuries and potential deaths (who.int, 2021). Due to the irregular work schedules and scope of road construction projects, traffic controllers are often exposed to several toxins that emerge from construction materials like asbestos. Exposure to such materials can turn to serious health complications including mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer. Traffic controllers are responsible for everything on the road, starting from traffic lights to vehicular faults and communication systems to identify the risk hazards with traffic management. Inadequate training and poor workplace are the most concern for the traffic controllers, prolonging them to increased death and fatal accidents from road traffic. On the other hand, several health hazards implying absent mind, fatigue and chronic health issues can pose significant safety risks and life challenging concerns. As per the views of Borsuk (2017), traffic controllers are prone to certain musculoskeletal problems where painful disorders subjective to muscle, tendons and ligaments can lose their ability of standing. In Australia, the job of traffic controllers is recognized to be the most dangerous occupations as they often lose their life in the name of safety. A single mistake of a road traffic controller can increase the likelihood of death reports and can be the reason for mass destruction. It has been commonly witnessed that proper equipment and strong decision-making ability of a traffic controller can involve smooth traffic management and turn to lower death rates of the controller. Therefore, strategic measures need to be taken in order to reduce the risk factors of traffic controllers and prevent them from fatal accidents that are much prevalent over the years (Li et al. 2021).
Aim
The aim of this study is to understand the risk factors and analyze the mitigation strategies that are associated with road traffic controllers to reduce their workplace hazards.
Objectives
To identify the risk factors of traffic controllers causing workplace hazards
To determine the impact of workplace hazards on traffic workers
To recommend strategic measures to reduce the chance of hazards for the traffic controllers
Problem statement
In this contemporary age, vehicle density is increasing at a faster pace than the road length that is inversely proportional to the congestion of road and ideal management of traffic. A road traffic controller confronts significant workplace and health hazards on their day-to-day life work basis and makes imperfect decisions leading to complicated situations and threatening accidents. Socioeconomic factors are also entailed within the risks of road traffic controllers in relation to some financial causes and personal reasons that forces them towards grave injuries and increased exposure to life-alarming deaths. Based on the views of Malygin, Borodina&Komashinsky (2020), inability to direct road traffic near road closures and the accessibility of emergency responses to ensure safety of workers during construction work can increase the risk exposure of traffic controllers due to misguided information on routes. Reckless drivers on the road make dangerous road traffic maneuvers like tailgating, weaving and unsafe passing that tend to cause traffic violations and raises the life risks for the traffic controllers. Lack of effective skill set in relation to training and safety protocol can misguide the traffic controller and can cause slips, trips and fall pertaining to severe fatalities. Inadequate knowledge of the traffic signals can disrupt the capacity of traffic management and create a safety alliance both for the vehicular traffic and the pedestrian. Improper maintenance of a reasonable distance between the traffic controller and the vehicles on the road can shield from personal losses in cases of harsh driving and abrupt brake failures (McGill et al. 2019).
Rationale
The rationale of this study lies on the importance of understanding risk factors of traffic controllers as they need to provide complete day and night duty. Australian traffic authorities need to implement strategic measures to reduce their workplace hazards and provide them with a sustainable environment to manage traffic congestion. Strict compliance with workplace safety can turn to increased productivity of the traffic controllers which can directly involve effective decision-making skills during traffic control redundancies. Proper training and knowledge about the traffic management guidelines can reduce the likelihood of several incidents for the road traffic controller and keep them aloof from crisis situations. According to Li et al. (2021), a secure workspace area is mandatory for them in order to safeguard from severe mishaps and fatalities while reserving themselves from scorching sunlight and less ventilated rooms. Surrounding environment of the traffic controller often relates with their physical stresses due to which they often get indulged to stresses and prone to absent-mindedness. These can be a concerning workplace hazard that needs to be monitored in the need to improve the flexibility and productivity level of the traffic controllers. Traffic controllers should identify the discerning factors of workplace safety hazards and involve strong measures on the segregation of vehicles and pedestrians to warn them of risky complications (Wei et al. 2019).
Literature review
Type of hazards for traffic controllers
Workplace hazards
Traffic controller is responsible for managing vehicles and directing traffic in an organised way so that vehicles can pass smoothly. In order to perform their duty, construction traffic controllers have faced several workplace hazards that are impacting on their health and causing trauma. Maximum time, traffic controllers are directing vehicles in standing position and it is their duty to be more active in their role so that they can manage the road traffic properly. However, most of the proper training was not provided to the traffic controllers and the inadequate training can lead to occurrence of injuries that are beyond repair. It has been seen that approximately 1.3 billion people die each year due to the result of road crashes and 20% of the total deaths formed by traffic controllers who are aged between 20 to 30 years. It reflects that less experiences about the working procedure have often caused major trauma and injuries to the workers. Majority of the road fatalities have occurred due to road construction and in Great Britain 1% to 2% road accidents happened in the course of road works (Worksafe.tas.gov.au, 2021). Despite the introduction of the existing WHS (Work Health Safety Act) in Australia, the death rate of road traffic controllers was not controlled in a significant manner. On the other hand, poor workplace access has also caused hazards to the traffic control employees such as physical risks that are associated with the traffic controller in construction road due to the improper handling of equipment. Traffic controllers often fall or trip in their workplaces due to the scattered products or equipment in the site of road construction. It sometimes leads to the development of grave injuries and can cause serious health issues in future.
Health hazards
One of the major health hazards that most of the traffic controllers are facing in their continuous duty is fatigue. Due to constant standing up in a position, they often suffer from severe muscle disorder and often lose their capability of walking. On the other hand, continuous exposure to harmful, gasses such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other greenhouse gases impact on their lung function and allergic reactions are prevalent in them. Traffic controllers on construction road sites have become sensitized to chemicals and different types of wastages also cause serious impacts on their health. Working in compressed spaces can also give rise to cardiac issues and other chronic diseases also may develop due to the exposure to contaminants. In addition to that, risk of accidents is very high in the job as reckless driving or unfavourable weather conditions may lead to occurrence of fatal accidents that only damage the drivers but traffic controllers can also be severely injured. It has been seen that almost 251 incidents of accidents have been registered in Australia in the construction industry between 2013 to 2017 despite creating the traffic management guide (Safeworkaustralia.gov.au, 2021).
Impact of workplace hazard on workers
Workplace hazards are one of the prominent issues in traffic controller duty and several countries have failed to control their traffic volume effectively that ultimately impacts the productivity level of traffic controllers. Despite introducing several workplace safety frameworks, a traffic controller job is considered one of the dangerous duties in Australia. Not only work hazards but health hazards in the traffic controller duty has hindered the productivity of the employees and led to occurrence of many fatal accidents that involve with compromising lives of citizens. 64% of road accidents occur in Australia due to the speeding of cars and revealed that the lives of traffic controllers are always at risk (Safeworkaustralia.gov.au, 2021). Therefore, both the government and the construction industry need to develop specific strategies that can help in achieving the goal of a safe workplace environment. As the road traffic controller needs to provide day and night duties, hence it is essential for the authorities to properly rotate their duties that will provide them a chance to relax themselves and join the work with a fresh mind.
Other than proper engagement of flexibility within the working hour, it is also important for the agencies to implement competency framework and introduce training and accreditation programs that help workers to achieve the ultimate skills and talent that is essential to manage voluminous traffics. On the other hand, the physical environment is another factor that can contribute in the formation of an effective workplace. Most of the time, traffic controllers either stand in the scorching sunlight or they are confined in their little cabin that has been installed at the road. Both the situation is not effective to increase their rate of efficiency. As per the view of Oza et al. (2020), the less ventilated room and dingy offices often create a claustrophobic environment for the workers and reduce the level of effectiveness of the employees. Ineffective physical environments influence the concentration level of traffic controllers and decrease their ability to perform efficiently.
Lastly, the remuneration scale of a traffic controller is much lower than any other job like health professionals, software engineers and school teachers. Average salary of a traffic controller is generally between $ 55,000 to $65,000 yearly and the hourly pay of an entry level traffic controller is $ 26.4 (Payscale.com, 2021). There are no additional reward or bonus packages included in their salary construction process that discourage traffic controllers from delivering effective performance. Performance of employees can be enhanced by introduction of reward and bonus programs but the traffic controllers are deprived from any type additional financial support that has limited the involvement of workers in their assigned job role. Therefore, higher authorities need to focus on strategies that can ensure the wellbeing of traffic controllers and motivate them to increase their level of efficiency and deliver credible performance. Concentrating on fulfilling the financial requirement of traffic controllers is not enough but assuring the physical safety at the workplace is also mandatory for the management.
Strategies to mitigate the chance of hazards
Introduction of training program
Introduction of proper training programs is one of the measures that can be involved within the traffic management to prepare their employees moderately and allow them to evolve their skills that are required to manage traffic properly. Training and accreditation programs can help in setting required skills and talent for traffic controllers. On the other hand, inclusion of a competency framework can help in delivering adequate service by traffic employees. The Australian government has already modified the required qualification level and introduced a Blue Card training program that prepares employees to manage traffic at road site construction and allow them to control traffic with proper controlling devices. Construction works that are adjacent to the road are highly risky, therefore, they need to abide by the WHS ACT (Work Health and Safety Regulations), 2012 and under the Regulation 299 of SWMS (Safe Work Method Statement), addressing the specific hazards is mandatory for the construction group.
Mitigating issues regarding physical factors
In order to minimise the chance of accidents occurring, traffic management is required to point out the physical factors that can impact the health of traffic control employees. One of the common issues in road side construction is poor layout and the overcrowding of employees that can cause tripping or striking against any type of sharp objects. Therefore, the construction team needs to place their harmful objects in a particular area so that employees cannot come in contact with harmful objects (Adeyemi & Adewole, 2017). On the other hand, the traffic controllers need to provide the latest technologies that can allow them to manage voluminous traffic without getting in the middle of the road. Providing access to modern technologies and updating them at regular intervals can allow them to handle traffic in a smooth manner and enhance their ability of performance.
Improving the environmental factors
Improving the environmental factors are also essential for traffic management to increase the level of involvement of traffic controllers. As the traffic controllers are most of the time confined in to small offices that do not have proper ventilation or enough light to complete required paperwork, therefore, the traffic management can install new traffic booths with proper light and ventilation can impact their efficiency level and encourage them to work effectively (Chuah et al. 2019). On the other hand, the traffic management is required to make policies that can tackle the mental health of their employees and need to assign duties to the most credible people as lives of many people depend on action of traffic controllers. Employees have to be capable of impromptu decision at the time of an emergency situation and that can only be achieved with proper mental state.
Motivating employees
Poor interpersonal skills and attitude often develop ineffective bonding between management and colleagues that ultimately reduce the level of competency of the workers. In order to manage the level of competency, supervisors of the traffic controllers need to motivate their team members and inspire them to increase their level of involvement within the assigned job. Constant feedback can be gathered from the traffic controller and changes can be made as per the requirement of the employee. Implementation of a two-way communication system can help in rectifying the weaker area in the traffic management. Suggested by Wu et al. (2017), the Australian government can take initiative to improvised the remuneration structure of the traffic controller and involve additional financial programs such reward, incentive and bonus to make the position of traffic controller more attractive. As the pay scale of the traffic controller is much less in comparison to other jobs, therefore, the level of attachment of employees to the traffic controller position is also lower. Their management can also introduce changes as per the traffic control guidance schemes (TCGS) and apply all the required WHS legislation in their operational management.
Methodology
Research philosophy
The research philosophy deals with the involvement of specific knowledge and information that help in building the understanding about the research topic. The researcher required to select appropriate research philosophy that can help in meet the research problem. As the research tries to develop a proper understanding about the issues that are reducing the competency level of traffic controllers and increasing the risk factors in their job, therefore selection of positivism research philosophy is appropriate for the study. Positivism research philosophy has allowed the researcher to engage factual knowledge through observation and align them with the mentioned research objectives (Alekszejenkó&Dobrowiecki, 2019). On the other hand, positivism research philosophy also allows the researcher to practice qualitative data analysis and enable them to concentrate on facts that analyse the research topic in a broad manner.
Research approach
The research has involved an inductive research approach that has encouraged the researcher to contribute in the emergence of new theories and align the research in such a way that ultimately addresses the research problem. As the research does not involve the development of hypotheses, therefore, the researcher can solely focus on meeting the aim and objective of the research (Aleko&Djahel, 2019). The research has been dealt with the strategies that can be applied to mitigate the risk factors in road construction traffic controllers. Inductive research approaches help in constructing adequate understanding about the present issue within the job role that assist in making strategies to mitigate risk factors.
Data collection
As the research has aimed to shed light on the strategies that can mitigate the workplace risk factor in road traffic controllers, therefore the researcher involves the secondary data collection process to collect relevant data that has helped in understanding the real issue in traffic controller duties. All the factors that are impacting the level of engagement of traffic controllers in their duty have been analysed in the research with the help of the secondary data collection process. The main reason for selecting the secondary data collection process in the study is that it provides an opportunity to the researcher to lower the risk of data error and include evidence that has already been tested. As per the view of Shaoutet al. (2018), inclusion of the data collection strategy has helped in performing in-depth analysis of the subject and encouraged the researcher to present detailed evaluation of the subject matter. Data has been collected from previously published journals, articles and authenticated PDFs that help in maintaining reliability and credibility of the research paper. As workplace hazards are one of the prominent issues in traffic controller duty, incorporation of a secondary data collection process has helped in pointing out the measures that can mitigate the work-related issues in the traffic management.
Data analysis
Inclusion of a proper data analysis method can allow the researcher to add value to their research process and provide insights that will finally remove the risk factors from traffic controller duties. The research involved the qualitative data analysis approach that ultimately evaluated the data that are collected by the secondary data collection process. One of the advantages of the qualitative data analysis approach is that it helps in forming definitive conclusions and make recommendations to the traffic controllers as per the nature of the selected information. As the collected data are backed by authenticated sources and facts, therefore, relevance of the research paper has been increased and it successfully highlights the issues in the road traffic controlling duty. Based on the opinion of Rehena& Janssen, (2018), Qualitative data analysis process also forms deeper understanding about the current requirement of employees and increases awareness that will encourage supervisors to take preventive measures that enhance the involvement of traffic controllers. It has been seen technological upgradation can allow the workers to perform their duty security and help in reducing the number of road accidents. As the traffic controllers are always working under extreme weather conditions, hence, health hazards are the most common issue in their duty. Selection of the qualitative data analysis process has enabled the researcher to provide suggestions by analysing the previous reports that help in mitigating the current issue in their job role.
Ethical consideration
Ethical consideration is the most important part of the research and researchers need to perform the research by maintaining the research principle. One of the primary responsibilities of the researcher is to present factual knowledge in an authenticated manner and any type of manipulation of the data to gain desired results is strictly prohibited (Wang et al. 2021). Involving incorrect data and information can lower the reliability of both the research paper and the researcher. Therefore, presentation of accurate information is the main priority of the researcher that has helped in maintaining the dignity of the research. On the other hand, information that is relevant and aligned with research purposes must be from reliable sources as it helps in maintaining the genuineness of the paper. Before involving information in the paper, the researcher has to evaluate and analyse the source of the information and include the information only after verification. In this research, genuine articles and journals have been issued that allow the researcherto maintain the authenticity of the research paper.
Results and discussions
Risk factors of traffic controllers
Speeding has become the prime factor in relation to the injuries and death of traffic controllers on road due to the crossing of speed limit over 80-100 km/hr. As per the report, the death of traffic controllers in Australia occurs due to low-risk activities like general duties patrolling where 55% is the result of motorcycles (Dodge, 2020). Among the several risk factors for traffic controllers, most death disruptions are due to accidents contributing merely 65% rather than the assaults and health conventional issues. The stressful and physical nature of road traffic controllers can also lead to health-related fatalities where a number of guards have died due to cardiovascular events during their duty over the past 20 years. Recent study also indicates about the work-related anxiety of traffic controllers and 36% of their injuries due to spat on or bitten during road accidents. Traffic controllers are often responsive to opportunistic assaults that increase the likelihood of mental and health implications from society and personal life. On the other hand, irrespective of the physical dangers, their mental toll takes a surprising visit to force them towards the risky situation of tragic road events and fatalities. As per the report, culpable driving is the biggest threat for the road traffic controller which has already responded to the death incidents of four Victorian traffic controllers through a procedural snag (theguardian.com, 2020). Health implications related to dingy office conditions often creates claustrophobic environment that influences their concentration level of traffic control greatly and can reduce their death exposures during traffic congestion.
Figure 1: Risk factors of traffic controllers
(Source: Dodge, 2020)
Technological intervention for traffic controller health and safety
Locational technologies are a great way to analyze traffic patterns and reduce the respondents of traffic related deaths for the controllers. To lower down the traffic incidents of the people including the traffic controller, V2 technology has been newly built to gain better insights about the traffic and identify the length of idle cars at night. According to a report, vehicle safety design is strongly designated as a key to reduce the public health burden of traffic congestion that directly increases the life expectancy of traffic controllers by 64% (thelancet.com, 2020). Recently, there are eight safety technologies in the vehicle fleet including the popular Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) to prevent the traffic controllers from life-alarming death and fatalities. Adaptive traffic signals through real-time traffic reporting can be accessed by the traffic controller to illustrate the vehicular optimization, scale, flexibility and modes of transit of the vehicles to reduce their risk exposures. On the other hand, smart corridors are commonly used by the traffic controllers nowadays to alert drivers of the upcoming traffic congestion and prevent any sort of accidental damage and serious incidents. Such corridors provide an alert to the drivers of the cars and vehicles known to ease traffic and move ahead, safeguarding own and mostly the traffic controller who is at an unsafe position in the road. As per the report, $41 trillion is spent to build a smarter world technology to reduce the traffic congestion in the road traffic and reduce the fatalities of traffic controllers due to harsh accidents (Pattani, 2016). Thus, traffic controllers need to access such latest and modernized technologies to manage the voluminous traffic on roads without any indulgence in the middle of the road and prevent themselves from traffic accidents and increased death rates.
Figure 2: Technological upgradation for reducing risks of traffic controllers
(Source: thelancet.com, 2020)
Strategic measures to reduce the chance of hazards for the traffic controllers
Traffic controllers are being considered as the responsible individuals for maintaining the vehicles and also regulating the traffics in an organized way for smooth movement of the vehicles. It has been seen that most of the traffic controllers did not get proper circumstances for controlling traffic for a long time which generally caused injuries. As a result, it is necessary to adopt strategic measures for reducing the chances of hazards for the traffic controllers because of having less experience in controlling traffic almost 20% of deaths usually happen. It clearly depicted that the traffic controllers required an adequate level of training and also to be more experienced. The establishment of decent training programs helped in preparing the traffic controllers for enhancing their skills for managing the traffic carefully for a long time. Including that, proper traffic management is also crucial for pointing out the physical circumstances that can affect the health of traffic controllers (Tomic&Liu, 2017). It is also necessary to adopt the latest technology for enhancing the skill sets and minimizing the burden by managing the overflowing traffic without any presence on the road, updating with the latest technologies that help in handling the traffic in a smooth pattern and also improve the performance. It has also been noticed that advancing the environmental factors is also crucial for traffic management for increasing the level of involvement of traffic controllers. Hence, to cope up with the various environmental circumstances it is necessary to have ventilated traffic booths for the traffic controllers. So that, they can maintain their proper mental health and get proper motivation to work efficiently. To avoid the chances of hazards it is necessary to develop inefficient bonding among management and colleagues that eventually decrease the level of capability. Hence, to increase the level of capability it is necessary to motivate the team members and to encourage increasing the level of engagement with work and decreasing the chances of hazards for the traffic controllers.
Conclusion
From the aforementioned study, it can be concluded that traffic controllers respond to risky jobs and are prone to major trauma and injuries due to road accidents and incidental crashes. The study implicates construction activity to be the detrimental cause of road fatalities in the course of road works which has not only taken the life of the workers but also the traffic controllers who have to upfront in the middle of the road to direct the route of traffic congestion. Improper handling of the equipment in the construction roads have responded to extreme falls or trips of traffic controllers irrespective of the existing Work Health Safety Act (WHS). The continuous duty slot of the traffic controllers has caused them to suffer from fatigue and severe muscle disorders that has often restricted them to the possibility of walking or standing posture. On the other hand, the sensitization of chemicals near the construction areas has resulted in serious impact on the health intervention of the traffic controllers in reliance on some cardiac and chronic issues. The harmful gases and environmental pollutants preserved over the construction area is also the reason for allergic reactions and improper lung functioning of the traffic controllers that require immediate prevention measures. Despite the traffic management guide, the number of accidents near the construction industry has been rising at an exponential scale and taking the life of traffic controllers in Australia.
Flexibility with the working hour of traffic controllers is a vital set to reduce the likelihood of road accidents. On the other hand, a competency framework and certain accreditation programs can certainly improve the motivation of the traffic controller which can further help to improve their decision-making response during real issues in traffic control duties. Implementation of latest technological tools to monitor the weather conditions can also ease the traffic congestion redundancies at a significant level. This can contribute greatly as the traffic controllers can now perform their duty through complete security level and can work on freely without any fear of accidental issues and incidents at the workplace. Inclusion of traffic control guidance schemes can be a better suit to manage traffic conditions and can launch strong communication among the traffic controllers suited at different positions in the construction road services to restrict vehicular onsets.
Research limitations
There are significant limitations that are involved in the existing study on the note of limited budget and time slot. Due to the secondary findings as per the methodological section, the researcher is only able to access finite data sets and information that were available free of cost. There can be a redundancy to the lack of quality data insights due to secondary analysis and can involve biases in the favor of the author which might not address the research objectives precisely.
Implications of the findings
This research has few important implications to avoid the occupational and health risk factors due to various hazards for traffic controllers. It has been noticed that due to having irregular work schedules and being exposed to toxins of road construction, various deadly diseases caused serious difficulties to road controllers. Including that due to the rising number of vehicles, sometimes it becomes tough for the traffic control to manage the vehicles and they usually face various workplace hazards that used to affect their health. As a result, the traffic controller should need appropriate training programs individually for their skill enhancement that generally need to manage traffic. A proper training program should need to be done for reducing the risk factors and including the capability framework should support in giving satisfactory assistance by traffic employees (Sangha et al. 2019). Enhancing the skill set of the traffic controller is essential because due to reckless drivers it becomes dangerous and life risky for the traffic controllers and as a result lack of effective skill set for not following safety protocols can cause severe fatalities. Construction works that used to be adjacent to the road are being considered highly risky and as a result, they need to be anticipated by the Work Health and Safety Act, 2012 under the regulation 299 of Safe Work Method Statement for addressing the particular hazards which is necessary for the construction organization. As an implication for this research, it is important to mitigate the occurrence of accidents by maintaining proper traffic management which would help in pointing out the various factors for impacting the health of traffic controls.
Road traffic controllers should be required to serve day and night services; therefore, it is necessary for the authorities to have rotational job facilities that would give them an opportunity to relax and re-join the work with a clear mind. It has been seen that it is essential to have a proper commitment of flexibility in the working time so that the companies could implement a capability enhancement framework along with certification programs that would help the traffic controller for delivering the ultimate skills and talent that is necessary for managing large traffics. Ultimately, the pay scale of a traffic controller should be higher as the pay scale is much lower than any other job roles (Heydari et al. 2019). Including that there are no extra reward or bonus programs that used to be included in their salary so as an implication it is necessary to include extra reward or bonus schemes with the salary for encouraging the traffic controllers from performing efficient performance. The performance of employees should need to be enhanced by introducing the bonus programs including with increasing of salary PayScale.
It has been observed that due to having a large number of vehicles it becomes difficult for traffic controllers to manage the traffic, as a result the traffic controller should adapt the latest technology to mitigate the burden of overflowing traffic. By the help of advanced technology, traffic controllers can easily track each and every detail of the traffic and even track the fatalities that happened on the road. It is necessary to adapt locational technologies for analysing the traffic patterns and to minimize the road fatalities. For getting better insights it is also important for traffic controllers to stay updated in respect to enhance the technologies for traffic (Li et al. 2018). It is also important for full adaptation of advanced technology within the system of traffic control for defending the harsh drivers and also to manage the traffic congestions automatically by the help of automated traffic lights without any road presence of traffic controllers.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1: Adequate training and skill upgradation
A road traffic controller needs to step the stop of traffic management safely in order to direct the flow of the traffic congestion and reduce road accidents carefully. They should have with the SafeWork NSW WHS White Card in the need to become a capable traffic controller guard of a construction road through a licensing ability (Gallikova, Barta&Caban, 2019). Adequate literacy and numeracy skills are most important for the traffic controllers as they need to manage traffic congestion problems with consistency and delicacy. They should also get acquitted with the social responsibilities so that they can ensure welfare of the pedestrian and manage themselves from harsh decisions on road incidents.
Recommendation 2: Implementation of latest technological equipment
Involvement of automation technologies to control vehicular traffic can ease the work process of a traffic controller and manage their daily vehicular flow. Instead of outdated traffic signs and signals through road markings and other preventive measures, the traffic controllers need to access navigation and controlling devices where they need not have to come in the middle of the road to direct the flow of control of the vehicles. New communication technologies with the power of AI devices can better suit real time data insights for the traffic controllers that can easily manage the clogged roads and prevent hurtful accidents of the traffic guards on the road (Baker, 2018). Installation of millions of cameras at a close distance through adaptive technological alliance can aid the traffic controller to get instant updates about the traffic conditions and reduce the likelihood of their risk exposures.
Recommendation 3: User friendly workplace area
Reformation of workplace design is mandatory to improve the occupational health of the traffic controllers. A mentally and physically fit controller on the construction road can respond effectively while dealing with a variety of situations as they encounter. User-friendly workplace for the traffic controller is important to increase their life-expectancy during duty and look after their well-being in return for their safety policies to take care of the environment and vehicular respondents. Holding an environmentally free workplace for the traffic controllers can reduce their stressful and complicated services of managing traffic and can respond greatly while making effective decisions based on certain accidental cases and incidental damages on the road (Jagusiak-Kocik& Mazur, 2021).
Recommendation 4: Constant guidance and motivation services
Traffic controllers near the construction areas are required to identify the drivers who are disobeying the legislature and strict laws of traffic. They need to patrol roads at frequent intervals in order to keep themselves safe from hazardous incidents on the road and safeguard the community in a great turn. The head department of the Australian traffic management authority should conduct short intervals of motivational classes in order to make the controller feel relaxed and manage the stressful jobs of trafficking with strong decision-making skills.
Future scope
The study needs to focus on the future implications for strict regulations of traffic controllers in order to handle traffic at an exponential level. In addition, the researcher should create a strong traffic controlling framework to involve an effective plan of managing traffic insights on the road (Michalík et al. 2019). Future studies in relation to the reduction of occupational hazard of the traffic controller need to be highlighted briefly in order to tackle the present challenges of their traffic control. The researcher should also detail out the density-based traffic control system in the road to prevent the road accidents of the people including the traffic guard and enlighten an emergency signal to the workers priorly in their construction parts.
Reference list
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