Carnage in Highway Work Zones

Imagine trying to do a difficult, physically taxing job — often in hot, noisy, dusty environments, or in cold, dark environments — with thousands of pounds of steel hurtling by within inches of your body. And the only thing “protecting” you are a few plastic traffic cones and maybe some flashing lights.

Far too many don’t come home alive.

Readers of the Weekly Toll may have noticed that at least one highway construction worker is killed on the job every week, usually by vehicles that crash into the construction zone. The week before last, seven highway construction workers were killed on the job, three in a single incident. Others are killed after being struck by construction vehicles.

Here’s a list of 12 highway construction workers killed in the past month (and note that the Weekly Toll picks up only about a third of workplace fatalities each week).

Construction worker dies after minivan strikes sweeper he was operating
Three Construction Workers Killed in I-10 Crash Near Blythe
Road Construction Worker Struck by a Suspected Drunk Driver Last Week, Has Succumbed to His Injuries
Transportation worker, 60, hit and killed by DUI driver while working on interstate, police say
Construction worker killed in hit-and-run crash, authorities say
Two construction workers killed after crash on I-95
Construction worker killed in I-275 crash identified
Construction worker dies after being hit by driver along rural Minco highway
Driver Arrested After Road Worker Dies in Big Bear Hit-and-Run

Nothing is more frustrating than seeing the same preventable deaths week after week with little seeming to be done about it.

A Nationwide Problem

Transportation incident accounted for over a third of all occupational fatalities in 2023.  Many of these are on-the road fatalities — for example long-haul truckers whose deaths also appear multiple times every week (and will be the subject for a future post)

Transportation injuries are a leading cause of injuries in the construction industry, accounting for 25% of fatal injuries among all construction workers. They also comprise a large portion of fatal (48%) and nonfatal (20%) struck-by injuries in construction.

Transportation injuries are a leading cause of injuries in the construction industry, accounting for 25% of fatal injuries among all construction workers. They also comprise a large portion of fatal (48%) and nonfatal (20%) struck-by injuries in construction

There were over 113,000 work zone crashes in 2024, resulting in over 41,000 injuries. Roadway incidents involving motorized vehicles remain a major hazard in the construction industry, resulting in 5.4 thousand nonfatal  injuries during 2021-2022 and 161 fatalities in 2023. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports that in 2022, 105 workers were killed and over 20,000 injured. Coincidentally, work zone safety currently headlines the federal OSHA website.

I’ve written before about construction workers killed by construction equipment, and how those are often unfortunately mischaracterized as a result of workers just not paying attention.  But this post focuses on those killed by drivers while working on the roads.

Who Regulates Work Zone Safety?

Safety in highway construction work zones is governed by the 1100 page Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD) issued by the US Department of Transportation and updated every few years. The latest version is the 11th Edition with Revision 1, dated December 2025.

“The purpose of the MUTCD is to establish uniform national criteria for the use of traffic control devices that meet the needs and expectancy of road users on all streets, highways, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and site roadways open to public travel.”

What we’re dealing with here is mostly what’s known as “temporary” work zones — those that aren’t up long enough to position jersey barriers to prevent vehicle intrusion into the work zone.

Temporary work zones are covered in Chapter 6 of the MUTCD which seeks to “facilitate movement of road users through or around TTC zones while protecting road users, workers, responders to traffic incidents, and equipment.”

And the chapter focuses heavily on workplace safety:

Of equal importance to the public traveling through the TTC zone is the safety of workers performing the many varied tasks within the work space. TTC zones present constantly changing conditions that are unexpected by the road user. This creates an even higher degree of vulnerability for the workers and incident management responders on or near the roadway. At the same time, the TTC zone provides for the efficient completion of whatever activity interrupted the normal use of the roadway.

OSHA does not have a specific standard covering highway work zone safety but CFR 1926.200(g), “Traffic control signs and devices,” which states that “The design and use of all traffic control devices, including signs, signals, markings, barricades, and other devices, for protection of construction workers shall conform to Part 6 of the MUTCD.” And in 2012, OSHA issued a Compliance Directive, to assist inspectors to enforce safety working conditions on US highways, based on Chapter 6 of the MUTCD.

Flaggers are covered by 1926.201(a) which again refers to the MUTCD.

Other violations are covered by the General Duty Clause. Those include Setting and Retrieving Traffic Cones, Crossing Live Lanes of High-Speed Traffic and High-Visibility Apparel

Referring to other guidance like the MUTCD in an OSHA standard is called “incorporation by reference.” This is generally a faster way for creating safety requirements than going through the rulemaking process (especially if the referred guidance is effective and widely accepted), but there are some problems.

First OSHA can only incorporate specific versions by reference, but not any updates, which often occur every few years. For example, in this case, only the 2002 MUTCD is incorporated into 1926.200 while the current MUTCD was revised in 2025.  Additional rulemaking would have to be conducted to update the OSHA standard to the current MUTCD version.

It’s a difficult problem for OSHA. Like most small construction jobs, whether on major highways or small back streets, they’re hard for OSHA to find.  And finally, many highway workers are public employees who are not covered by OSHA in 23 states.

The second problem with incorporating “guidance” as an enforceable standard is that only that “mandatory” elements of the guidance are enforceable by OSHA — in other words, those measures that contain the words “shall” or “must.”  Stating that a measure “should” be taken is not enforceable.

For example:

At night, flagger stations shall be illuminated, except in emergencies. (enforceable)

Shadow and work vehicles shall display high-intensity rotating, flashing, oscillating, or strobe lights. (enforceable)

For long-term work on high-speed, high-volume highways, consideration should be given to using a temporary traffic barrier to separate opposing vehicular traffic. (not enforceable)

A flagger should be used to warn workers who cannot watch road users. (not enforceable)

But it’s not clear how many resources OSHA spends on enforcing highway work zone safety. In the past year, OSHA has conducted only 19 inspections and issued 21 construction citations under 1910.200 and issued fines totaling $125,619. (If you’re counting, that comes to about $6,000 per citation.) And over the past year and a half, there have also been a handful of General Duty Clause citations.

It’s a difficult problem. Like most small construction jobs, whether on major highways or small back streets, they’re hard for OSHA to find.

And finally, many highway workers are public employees who are not covered by OSHA in 23 states.

OSHA also has the Roadway Work Zone Safety and Health Partners alliance, a coalition of various construction and highway associations, as well as labor unions such as the Laborers and operating engineers.  The alliance has produced a number of publications including a useful “Guide to Preventing Work Zone Intrusions.”

What is to be Done?

I don’t have all or any of the answers here. This is more a cri de coeur aimed at those who can make a difference than a scholarly piece on how best to save these lives. Those who are more expert in this area than I am should feel free to use the comment section below.

But we can look at the possibilities

Shut It Down! The safest solution, of course, is just to shut down traffic altogether — or at least most lanes.  Obviously such an option is impossible in some cases and highly inconvenient in others.

Barricades: Concrete Jersey barriers that prevent vehicles from intruding into a work zone are also a solution, but not practical for temporary work. Heavy vehicles can also be parked around the work zone to protect workers, although that requires additional work vehicles that will just sit, inactive, as barriers.

Work zone intrusion alert technologies (WZIATs) are devices used designed to warn workers within an activity area of an impending accident caused by a vehicle intruding into the work zone. This would ideally give workers a chance to react when a vehicle comes barreling into the work zone. But there are technical and other problems with this technology, as well as the question whether workers would have time to react to a fast-moving vehicle.

Driver Penalties: Many states have passed laws significantly increasing penalties for drivers who speed through active work-zones. But there are obvious problems with this approach. First, many incidents are caused by drivers who may be dozing or drunk as opposed to deliberately speeding. In addition, how many times do you come across a sign warning of an approaching work zone, but then it turns out there are no workers actually working at that time? That kind of reduces that credibility of the warnings.

More OSHA Enforcement and Better Compliance with the MUTCD: But, of course, you need enough inspectors. Not the current situation where we’re seeing the lowest number of OSHA inspectors in the agency’s history.

Nevertheless, a review of OSHA enforcement cases (as well as the number of deaths) shows that there are still far too many employers who are not providing the lighting, marking, barriers, or clothing necessary to protect workers. State highway officials who hire contractors can also take a more active role ensuring the safety of highway workers.

(See comments below)