Children of construction workers urge motorists to “Slow Down” along 37 km construction zone
Additional resources
- Backgrounder on traffic control persons (PDF 220kb)
- FAQs (PDF 181kb)
- Incident summaries (PDF 27kb)
- Participant overview (PDF 362kb)
- Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project fact sheet (PDF 1.45mb)
Surrey, B.C., September 29, 2009 — Today, WorkSafeBC and Kiewit/Flatiron unveil signs that encourage motorists to drive safely near the Port Mann/Highway 1 project so that workers are protected from potential injury. The life-sized signs feature photographs of project workers and their children, aged 8 months to 6 years old. The signs are part of the "Slow Down" campaign – a roadside safety initiative aimed at public drivers.
Navarro (age 2), and Ariana (8 months old) – children of Doug Adam, one of the project's field engineers – will unveil 8'x12' signs that feature their family and the captions "Slow for us" and "Drive as if your kid worked here." Similar signs will be found along the project site from Vancouver to Langley.
Three families are featured on ten signs. As motorists travel along the project, they may see one of the photographed workers nearby.
“This is an exciting project that is vital to the continued growth of B.C. with Kiewit/Flatiron being committed to the safety of their workers,” said Diana Miles, WorkSafeBC's vice- president of Worker and Employer Services. “This proactive step will help encourage drivers to respect the job site of their workers.”
At the project's peak, over 2,500 workers will work near over 127,000 motorists and truckers whose daily commute occurs within the construction project's 37 km workplace.
“Safety is our highest priority,” said Ryan Tones, senior manager of the Port Mann/Highway 1 Project, Kiewit/Flatiron. “We believe that these signs encourage drivers to reduce their speed to help make road conditions safer for the public and our workers.”
As the project moves forward, motorists can expect to see similar safety signs along their commute as the campaign is refreshed every few months.
Since launching July 2007, the "Slow Down" campaign signs have been found on high profile road-building and construction projects such as: the Canada Line, the Sea-to-Sky Highway, Prince George's Simon Fraser Bridge, and the Kicking Horse Canyon project near Golden.
The Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project is part of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure's Gateway Program, which will improve roads and bridges for people, goods and transit throughout Metro Vancouver. The project is being delivered by the Transportation Investment Corporation with Kiewit Flatiron General Partnership as the contractor.
WorkSafeBC is an independent provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors that serves about two million workers and more than 200,000 employers. WorkSafeBC was born from the historic compromise between B.C.’s workers and employers in 1917 where workers gave up the right to sue their employers and fellow workers for injuries on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. WorkSafeBC is committed to safe and healthy workplaces and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits.
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For more information, contact: |
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| Gladys Johnsen |
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