MassDOT: Flagger Update

Posted By Luisa Paiewonsky, Administrator, MassDOT Highway Division

MassDOT has received many inquiries about the use of traffic flaggers on state road projects, and I would like to provide an update to clarify some misconceptions about our use of flaggers and paid police details.  Our first priority is safety, for everyone working at construction locations and for the people who travel in those areas. 

MassDOT’s Road Flagger and Police Detail Regulations which went into effect on October 3, 2008, have resulted in significant traffic mitigation savings while allowing us to continue to maintain the safest roads in the nation. The legislature passed a law in 2008 requiring regulations to provide flaggers at certain road and bridge construction sites. In nearly 18 months of using road flaggers on certain MassDOT construction sites throughout the Commonwealth, I am pleased to report that in addition to the more than $10 million that has been saved to date, there have been no safety incidents related to the presence of civilian road flaggers or the implementation of the regulations.  Further, the money that has been saved has allowed us to re-invest much needed capital into additional critical road and bridge projects.

MassDOT, as the contract awarding authority, was given control over when and where to use flaggers in consultation with appropriate law enforcement. In general, the regulations call for flaggers to be used on projects located on lower speed roads and for police details on high speed roads, in high traffic intersections, and other areas of specific concern.

We have followed those regulations and implemented the law, using flaggers on certain state road and bridge projects since October 2008.  Approximately 60% percent of our projects starting this spring have been identified as appropriate work sites for flagger use.   

As we have safely implemented this law for the past 18 months, we have begun to see the cost savings envisioned when the law was passed, savings that can be plowed back into repairing additional roads and bridges.

We looked at the cost of police details on state road and bridge projects for the five years prior to implementation of the flagger law, and compared those costs with our traffic control costs since October 2008.  We found significant savings.

In the five years prior to the flagger law, MassDOT spent more than $107 million of our road and bridge construction project dollars on police traffic control- 4.38% of the total. 

Since October 2008, we have spent $39.9 million on the combination of flaggers and police details- 3.44% of the total cost of projects.  The trend is clear- the percentage of our construction dollars spent on traffic management has declined 21% because of avoided costs associated with use of details on all projects.  The lower percentage cost of traffic control using flaggers where safe and appropriate has saved an estimated $10.9 million in avoided costs since October 2008, based on the assumption that without the flagger law our percentage costs would have remained as they were prior to October 2008. 

Why have our traffic control costs been reduced significantly? 

The answer is that because MassDOT as the contract awarding authority has control over the work site, we have controlled the number of traffic control personnel needed.  We are paying only for the hours worked, and not paying for additional supervisors.  We are able to reassign our flagger employees immediately to other important tasks during their work day. 

Some have also raised the issue of flagger wages as compared to police detail hourly rates.  MassDOT is obligated to pay prevailing wage on all construction projects, wage rates set at varying levels across the state by the state Division of Occupational Safety.  However, when comparing wage rates, it is important to note that the stated wage paid for flaggers includes benefits- an entire employee package, and these employees are assigned additional tasks during their regular work schedule.  Police detail members are paid hourly wage rates separate from the benefit packages already provided by their employer.     

Others have suggested that MassDOT change the classification of flaggers to something other than laborers to save additional costs.  U.S. Department of Labor guidance makes it clear that flaggers perform physical work on the job site and are classified properly. 

MassDOT pledges to continue working with our employees, law enforcement, project contractors and other concerned parties in the implementation of the flagger law and regulations in a way that puts safety first while continuing to achieve cost savings that redirect taxpayer dollars to future road and bridge projects. 

Comments

[Leon brownell]

Seems to me with all see negativity about using flaggers that I'm guessing these comments must be from disgruntled members of the police union that are P.O'd that they no longer have a monoply any more on the road construction details anymore. I'm looking for a job so I'm getting certified to be a flagger. I can show up late,drink coffee,talk on my cell phone and look down the as well as any of them.

[Todd Ahern]

Regarding your response that CPR is not required for flagger certification. See the Flagger Certification program, which states, "The MassHighway Certification Program shall include the following components: First bullet: "First Aid (or CPR) Training meeting the standard of the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, American Lung Association or an equivalent organization that meets the same Health Industry acknowledged objectives".

As written First Aid (or CPR), the CPR written en parens qualifies or explains what is meant by the preceding "First Aid", thus it would be required, if this was not it's intended meaning then it should have been written by someone with a better understanding of written language.
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Thanks for the feedback. The Regulation (701 C.M.R. s. 7.07(2) (Training)) provides "Road Flaggers shall be at least 18 years of age and shall receive training in construction zone safety, traffic control, first aid, and such other necessary safety programs as identified by the Awarding Authority." MassDOT requires first aid training, in accordance with the Regulation, for all entities with approved certification programs. Those programs may also provide additional training including CPR. We are not award of any of the entities with approved training programs having issues with the certification program guidance on our website.

[Todd Ahern]

Why is it that Flaggers need to be CPR certified to become a Flagger, but they do not have to maintain their certification. Every other EMS provider needs to renew their First Responder or EMT etc. status before it lapses. If it is important enough to require the CPR certification at inception, isn't it just as important to maintain it? As soon as their certification lapses they are no longer certified to perform CPR/First Aid.
============================================Thanks for the comment. Flaggers are required to have first aid training to have the skills needed to assist with construction-related injuries. CPR training is not required.

[Mike Polston]

Deval is having everyone fight his battles for him. Clearly Ms. Paiewonsky you have been told to put out this propaganda by the Governor or one of his minions. Flaggers do not save money and are not as safe as a police officer. Whatever spin you want to put on it, public safety is not your concern. This is a political game started by the current administration of the Commonwealth.

[Donato Solotzo]

I still cant't figure out how flaggers making $55.00 ( including contractor overage) dollars an hour is saving money compared to the average of $35.00 for a police officer.

Also, what about the flagger that was in a school zone, and found to be a sex offender ?

I would much rather have a local trained police officer in my neighborhood rather than some hack you dredged up from who knows where.

[Paul Dubrinsky]

Lets see you pay a flagger over $55 per hour as opposed to a police officer at 35-40 per hour. You also hire numerous flaggers for work that one...ONE police officer has always done...spare me the rhetoric...I have seen these guys...one at each end of the street with 600 cones between them. A police officer would be in the middle and direct traffic safely and you would be paying about $70 less. This was a Deval Patrick driven political move, nothing more nothing less. Patrick was ticked he didnt get the endorsement of police last election and has made it his agenda to mess with them. However this turns out you can be sure that almost every police officer and his immediate family will be voting for anyone but Deval. As for the flaggers, well make sure that every time they sit in their car, talk on their phone, arrive late, look in a hole, it will be noted and publicized. Just returning the courtesy you have extended law enforcement the past year.

[Charles Dupuis]

Why is it that Mass DOT intends to utilize flaggers on a road project in Watertown when the three intersections involved are classified as "high risk" intersections. The State has taken on the project due to the high accident rates at these intersections and has agreed that they are inherently dangerous. The vehicular traffic exceeds 4,000 vehicles per day at every access point, which is in direct conflict with the states intended use of flaggers.

Flaggers are not allowed to assist pedestrians. Watertown is home to the Perkins School For The Blind. Several students and teachers of the visually impared utilize these intersection daily and the State is putting them at undue risk. This is not consistent with your argument for the use of flaggers and needs to be stopped before someone is seriously injured.
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MassDOT Responds: Thank you for your comments. Regarding your interpretation of the Regulation and how it is actually designed and implemented, the facts are that Flaggers can be utilized, if determined to be safe by the Awarding Authority, on any roadway with a speed limit less than 45 miles per hour. The determination of traffic volumes in excess of 45 miles per hour is not applicable to low speed roadways; it is only applicable through the Regulation for High speed Low volume Roadways.

MassDOT prides itself in its safety record and we will continue to ensure that all work is performed in a safe manner on all of our projects. The work in various segments of projects such as Watertown is not performed exclusively in the intersections and has a great deal of approach work that can performed in a safe manner through the proper use of traffic control. This control is designed to direct and protect all users of the roadway in the vicinity of the work zone.

Projects such as this would require the use of police details, as well as flaggers, as determined to be appropriate and safe by the Awarding Authority. Care is taken to ensure pedestrian access through the work zone and a flagger does have the ability to assist pedestrian traffic through the work zone, as an accepted traffic control device, as necessary.

Coordination and cooperation through local enforcement, MassDOT, and the Contractor will ensure that all safety needs are met as construction progresses on this project.