EM achieves zero carriageway crossings in Area 3

EM Highway Services achieved zero carriageway crossings during October on its Highways Agency contract Area 3.

EM, a wholly owned subsidiary of international infrastructure and business services group Mouchel, manages and maintains the Area 3 network which covers motorways and trunk roads across central southern England on behalf of the HA. By introducing sign simplification and near side signage only for both near side and far side lane closures, EM has avoided 34,032 potential carriageway crossings achieving the milestone of ZERO for the first time. This also includes activities that are not normally recorded as carriageway crossings such as; debris removal, temporary pothole repairs and inspection of damaged safety fencing.

It has become standard practice in Area 3 not to cross the carriageway. Any crossings that do take place are recorded as a serious near miss, prompting the requirement for a full investigation. This milestone also coincides with the achievement of two million hours worked without a RIDDOR reportable accident.

EM’s Area 3 contract manager Rees Evans, said: “These are two great results that reflect the hard work and focus put in to ensuring the safety of our road workers whilst working on the network. We thank all of our employees and supply chain partners for their contributions and their ongoing commitment to safety that has enabled us to realise these very significant achievements.”

This safety achievement follows EM’s other contract in Area 1 who also achieved zero carriageway crossings in July.