By
Kevin Crain
Working in a highway work zone can be a dangerous job, and
being a flag person is one of the most important jobs in the work zone. As a
flagger you bear a lot of responsibility for the safety of your coworkers and
the traveling public.
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| Kevin Crain |
I remember an incident that occurred on a U.S. 169 patching
operation. The work zone included all the required signs, and each flagger wore
a high visibility vest and orange hat. At that time, KDOT did not place lead-in
cones on the centerline as we now do. I had just cleared my traffic and was
watching a car coming at me at a high rate of speed. I was beginning to wonder
if the driver even saw me standing there holding the flagging paddle. As the
car came closer, it still was not slowing down so I started moving the paddle,
hoping to get the driver’s attention.
An experienced coworker once told me that a flag person
needs to take control of a potentially dangerous situation. My colleague said
that people in the vehicles could be like sharks in that if they sense fear
they will not respect you. I also thought about the crew operating the patching
equipment and realized that I was the only defense between them and this car.
I just stood there waving the flagging paddle, hoping I
would get this car to stop before it hit me. At the last moment, the car did
stop about five feet from where I stood. The driver rolled down the window and
stated that he could not see me standing in the roadway. That was hard to
believe. I asked if he had seen the signs telling him there was roadwork ahead
and he responded that he had not. Then I requested that he look into his rearview
mirror – and finally, he could see the signs.
He wanted to know what was going on. These folks were not
happy about being stopped, but I explained to the driver that we were doing
road repairs and that they would have to wait a few minutes before they could
proceed. Once we cleared the traffic from the other end of the work zone, I
turned my flagging paddle to SLOW and let them go on their way.
This is one of many near-misses that I have witnessed
throughout my nearly 20 years of working at KDOT. I ask people to pay attention
to their surroundings while driving. People in work zones also have families
that we want to go home to every day.
Kevin Crain
is the Supervisor at the KDOT Altamont Subarea office.
