CSCS SLG Roadworks common mistakes
CSCS SLG Roadworks · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Sets advance warning signs at one memorised distance for every job instead of reading the speed limit and carriageway type off the layout drawing.
Candidates learn a single 'typical' distance early in training and then stop consulting the distance table, especially under time pressure on a short job.
What to do instead
Work through the table in two steps every time: locate the speed-limit row, then the single/dual carriageway column, and write the resulting distance on the layout before loading the van. Measure the set-out with a tape or measuring wheel rather than pacing it.
Uses the same cone spacing through the lead-in taper as along the closed lane, producing a taper that is too short and too shallow.
Candidates conflate the two separate spacing figures and treat 'cone spacing' as a single number, so the taper gets whatever spacing was used on the straight.
What to do instead
Calculate the two figures separately: first the taper length from the speed limit and the lane width being closed, then divide that length by the closer taper spacing to get the number of cones. Keep the tape on the ground while laying the taper so the first and last cone land on the correct marks.
Leaves the site at dusk with signs unlit, lamps not switched on, or the 'Works' end boards missing from the length.
Daylight training runs leave candidates thinking of the layout as a daytime object; lighting and end boards feel like extras rather than part of the layout.
What to do instead
Build a night check into the closing routine: walk the length and confirm each lamp is lit and facing the right way, reflectorised signs are in place and undamaged, and the end boards are visible from the approach direction. Record the check on the site paperwork before leaving.
Paces out the safety margin between the works and live traffic and then allows plant, spoil or a parked van to sit inside it.
The margin is set once by eye at the start of the shift and never re-measured, while the job evolves around it during the day.
What to do instead
Set the margin with a tape at the width required for the speed limit on that road and mark the line with paint or a rigid barrier, not just cones. Brief plant drivers on the marked line and re-check it after every delivery, lift or spoil movement.
Closes the lane to vehicles but leaves pedestrians to find their own way past, often through the cones or along the live carriageway edge.
Candidates focus on traffic flow and treat footway closures as someone else's problem, or assume people will walk round the outside of the works.
What to do instead
Design the pedestrian route as part of the layout, not after it: a signed, barrier-segregated walkway of adequate width with ramps at level changes and a visible diversion at the closure point. Walk the route yourself each shift to confirm it is still clear and the barriers have not been moved.
Scans for buried services once with a cable avoidance tool at the start, then machine-digs down to the marked line.
The scan is treated as a tick-box task to get the permit signed, and confidence grows as the trench gets deeper and nothing has been hit yet.
What to do instead
Treat detection as continuous: use the utility plans, a cable avoidance tool in power mode and a signal generator, mark the line in paint, and re-scan as each layer comes off. Hand-dig inside the utility's tolerance zone rather than machine-digging up to the mark, and stop immediately on any unidentified cable, pipe or marker tape.
Wears hi-vis that is dirty, torn, faded or the wrong class for the road, because the check is 'have I got a vest on' rather than 'is it the right one'.
PPE is grabbed from a pile at the start of the shift and its condition and class are never read against the site requirement.
What to do instead
Read the class on the garment label against the requirement for that road and speed limit before going out, and reject anything faded, torn, or obscured by dirt. Treat damaged hi-vis as a replacement item, not something to wear out.
Reports cuts and broken bones but lets dangerous occurrences and near misses go unrecorded because nobody was hurt.
Candidates equate 'reportable' with 'injury', so a plant strike on a service, a near-miss with a passing vehicle or a dropped sign goes in no book at all.
What to do instead
Learn the reportable categories as a list: deaths, specified injuries, over-seven-day injuries, and dangerous occurrences such as service strikes and structural collapses. Separately log near misses in the site record so the pattern is visible, even though they are not reportable.
Moves, adds or removes signs and cones during the shift without telling the supervisor, treating the layout as adjustable by whoever is on site.
Signs are seen as equipment to be tidied rather than a designed, recorded layout, and small changes feel harmless.
What to do instead
Learn that the layout may only be altered by a competent, authorised person, and that every change is recorded and re-checked against the drawing. If a sign is knocked over or needs moving, stop and get the change agreed and logged rather than adjusting it in passing.
Walks or stands inside the slewing radius of an excavator, or behind a reversing vehicle, relying on hi-vis to be seen.
Candidates assume the driver has seen them because they are wearing high-visibility clothing, and take the shortest route across the site.
What to do instead
Make eye contact with the operator and get an acknowledged signal before entering the machine's working area; otherwise stay outside the marked exclusion zone and the slewing radius. Use a banksman for all reversing and never walk behind a vehicle that is reversing.