 Good morning. It's good to see you. I've got some safety equipment for you and come on in. We'll introduce you to the rest of the crew We've got a meeting going on about a blade patching job that we've got Make a good day to start. Oh, kiddo like you'd meet our new employee Lorenzo Ortiz He's been working for a local contractor as an equipment operator Lorenzo, this is George Tidwell or George Romero. George Lucky Magnon. Lucky Jerry White Mike Chavis Eloy Romero. Eloy. Richard Harper. Doing Richard We'll be starting our blade patching down on State Road 311 this morning. I thought before we did We'd look over the TCP and then you guys could go ahead and get everything ready and going out And I'll bring Lorenzo After I've done one through the flagging procedures with him. What's the TCP? TCP is our traffic control plans which are prepared in accordance with the manual on uniform traffic control devices Also, we have a series of detail plans for various types of DC TCP's which have been including this notebook It's provided to us by the district engineer. If there's a need to revise one of these We could submit it to the district traffic engineer for his review and approval Okay, here's the one here's the one we'll be using if y'all will review it if we have any questions Let's discuss them before we go out Remember we always begin at the sign for the rest from the work area when setting it up and Pick it up the opposite direction when we're done. Have you ever done any flagging before Lorenzo? No, I've just seen others do it As a flagger you basically do three things You warn guide and protect Flagging is used to warn motorist is approaching a work zone To guide the traffic entering a work zone and to protect the motorist as well as the workers in the zone The warning must be done at a distance well away from the actual work area The flagger must be clearly visible to the approaching traffic Then the flagger has several very important functions to perform such as Directing the traffic through the work zone Protecting the lives and welfare of motors and pedestrians Protecting workers courteously and intelligently answering the public's questions Flagging is required when other methods of traffic control are inadequate to warn and direct drivers Flaggers may also be required in emergencies such as traffic auto accidents natural disasters or man-made disasters Flagging operations may be required in traffic control situations Such as when one lane is alternately used for both directions of travel When the roadway is closed for a short period of time to allow for equipment movement or blasting operations Also when workers are close to a lane of travel without a positive barrier When traffic speed must be reduced and traffic control devices alone will not accomplish this When confusing traffic flows need to be controlled as intersections Or when installing and removing traffic control devices Other situations where variable conditions require responsive traffic control your duties may require you to work in all types of weather night or day You're in a very vulnerable situation Flagging is one of the most important jobs on the roadway, but it can also be one of the most hazardous Okay, guys. Are there any questions? If not, let's go ahead and we'll set up our traffic control and we'll join you shortly This is what they were looking at Lorenzo. Lorenzo, let me I need to show you some flagging equipment and some of our safety gear When hard hats are required They should be The yellow for the visibility The safety vest what you got here shall be brightly colored a red orange And if the vest when the vest becomes old and faded you need to replace it This particular vest could be used for night as you can see it has a fluorescent stripe that will reflect light For night flagging, you'll also wear fluorescent gloves If the stop and slow paddle or flag are not reflected, you will use a flashlight with a horn like this one When you turn it on the light shines through it. You see yes, sir Be sure the batteries are good before you take it out in the field the primary tool To cold control traffic through a work zone is the stop and slow paddle. This is your paddle The face should be a minimum of 18 inches across the letter height should not be less than six inches high The sign can be attached to a rigid staff This one is about five and a half feet high and it will help you to support the Design I'll demonstrate to you in just a minute how to use this paddle to control traffic through a work zone Okay, okay, but right now. I want to talk to you about this flag As you can see it's a fairly large flag It should be about 24 by 24 inches The flag should only be used in extreme situations Such as windy days or in emergency situations or when traffic can be controlled by a single flagger So the primary tool for controlling traffic through a work zone is the stop and slow paddle, right? Now let me demonstrate using the stop and slow paddle Let's pretend I'm standing on the shoulder of the road just off the pavement and let's say a truck is coming Toward us from that direction and you want to stop it Face the stop sign toward the approaching truck look directly at the approaching driver Raise the exposed palm of the freehand to indicate the vehicle is required to stop Eye contact with the driver is also very important be courteous But at the same time be firm Stay alert at all times Know what is happening in front of you and behind you Occasionally look to see what's happening behind you if you're working with another flagger Who is at the other end of the work zone keeping constant contact with them You can do this with hand signals or a two-way radios Know what your crew and equipment are doing if trucks are pulling out knowing what direction they'll be traveling Another thing you want to remember when stopping traffic After you have stopped the first vehicle you have to motion to the other vehicles that are following it You have to motion to them that they are to stop too After the first vehicle is stopped and come to a complete stop walk toward the center of the road But never cross the center strap Set your set your paddle with the stop sign facing the traffic Again raise the exposed palm of the freehand and indicate to those drivers that you want them to stop Okay, well ends on now. Let's say that the road is clear and you're ready to release the traffic Walk back to the shoulder of the road Turn the paddle to the slow side and with the freehand motion to the drivers to proceed Any questions so far no none so far. Okay, let me give you another scenario Let's say you're flagging and you just want to slow traffic down to slow the traffic down show the slow side of your paddle and With the palm of your freehand raise and lower it in this manner. This is a universal sign Which means slow down Something else you can do to slow down the traffic is to hold the paddle with the stop side visible to the driver Before the approaching vehicle comes to a complete stop flip your sign to the slow side And then motion with your hand for the slow downs Then motion for the driver to proceed Okay, let's go through the procedures with the flag Remember the flag can only be used in extreme Circumstances such as windy days or emergency situations to stop traffic Face the traffic and extend the flag across the lane of traffic in a stationary position Raise the palm of your freehand Toward the traffic to indicate for it to stop to slow the traffic down through a work zone Extend the flag in a horizontal position across the traffic lane and before the vehicle comes to a complete stop Lower the flag to your side and motion with your freehand for them to proceed With your freehand you want to point in the direction the driver is to proceed If you want the driver to change lanes you'll point with your freehand to the lane Okay, now let's say you you've stopped the traffic and you want to you're ready to release it Lower the flag and your arm to your side With your freehand motion the driver to proceed Never wave the flag or use the flag to point always use your freehand When using the flashlight at night Use it in the same manner as you would the flag to stop traffic hold the hold the flashlight across the lane of traffic And raise the freehand palm up toward the traffic Remember to wear your fluorescent gloves at night. They're highly visible To release traffic drop the flashlight and the arm to your side and motion with freehand for the driver to proceed Do you have any questions before we go on? No, not at this time Again, I want you to remember eye contact with the driver is very important Talk to the driver with your eyes Let them know that you're in charge, but at the same time be be concerned about their safety while driving through the work site Let them know that you care Lorenzo if you don't have any questions. Let's drive out to the work zone. Let's go Stay on job so far Okay, I've got all my paperwork done yesterday, and I'm ready to go Good we're on state road of 311. We're traveling. We're going to an area where we're gonna be doing some blade patching work. I Guess I'll be doing some flagging out here. Yeah I'll drive through the job so you can see how the traffic control relates to what we talked about back at the patrol yard But especially I want you to notice and see exactly how the flagger does his job and how important his job is out here Well, it's blade passing the only type of work or a flagger is needed No, remember that we said earlier that there are other situations where we need a flagger to warn guide and protect for example Whenever we need to work in the middle of an intersection Or when we have dump trucks hauling across the entire highway The flagger is needed anytime we need to slow down traffic because of hazards to the motorist are For the protection of our workers Remember that flaggers should never be out here without the benefit of advanced warning signs We have several typical traffic control setups in the TCP binder Feel free to look at these at your convenience and get with me anytime you have any questions Lorenzo we're now approaching the work area The first thing we'll see is the roadwork ahead sign warning the driver to be alert and cautious Several warning signs are set up in advance of the work area So that the driver has time to react to the sign messages As we drive further we notice a be prepared to stop and a flagger sign These signs are warning the motorist as to what to expect as he approaches the work area Now you can see the flagger coming into view Our flagger has just received a signal from the other flagger on the far side of the work zone Indicating he is about to let traffic through from his side and that our flagger should stop us Notice how our flagger is positioned on the shoulder with the stop side of his paddle facing us and his left hand out motioning us to stop He stays on the shoulder for his protection until the lead vehicle comes to a full stop Now he is moving in front of the lead vehicle toward the center of the road Always keeping his stop paddle in full view of us and others behind us He talks briefly with the motorist in front of us To tell him what our crew is doing and how long the wait will be He steps back in front of the lead vehicle after he is assured that all of us are coming to a stop He looks back at the other flagger and signals him to let its traffic come through The other flagger turns his paddle to the slow side for his traffic Steps back onto the shoulder and with his left hand motions traffic through as you can see The last vehicle is just passed by us and now our flagger is signaling the other flagger to stop traffic on his side The other flagger is now doing exactly what our flagger did To stop traffic on his side. He now motions to our flagger to let us go through Our flagger now turns his paddle to the slow side steps back on to the shoulder and motions us to go through with his left hand As we drive through the work area notice how we have a buffer zone about 200 feet long in advance of the actual work area This is for added protection of our workers in case some motorists don't slow down in time and goes through a couple of cones before coming to a stop We're now at the end of the work zone and the flagger is motioning us to maneuver back onto the appropriate lane Notice the in-road work sign telling us that we are now out of the work area and can resume normal speeds I'm going to turn around and come back through the work area from the other direction As you can see the same series of advanced warning signs are displayed in this direction as well The flagger is now coming into view He is positioned on the shoulder with the slow side of the paddle facing us and is motioning with his left hand to slow down He is also signaling us with his left hand to go through By using both hand signals he can keep us moving through the work area at slow speeds for protection of our workers Again as we drive past the work area. We notice an in-road work sign Any questions Lorenzo? No, but now I realize how important the flagger's job is and the problems that can occur if the flagger is not alert and Communicating properly with the other flagger If you remember that your job as a flagger is to warn the motorist of the work ahead Guide the motorist safely through the work area and protect our workers. I'm sure you'll do fine The flagger needs to be alert constantly watching for motors that may not be paying full attention to their driving He also needs to have eye-to-eye contact with the other flagger and clear hand signal communications Eye-to-eye contact and clear hand signals are just as important between the flagger and the motorist Well Lorenzo now that you've seen how it's done. I'm going to have you relieve one of the flaggers so that he can take his lunch break any questions No, I think I've got it a little more We've go through the workers on a couple of times from both directions to show him what the public would be seeing What I'd like to do and he thinks he's ready is to get him to relieve you for a little while While you take your lunch break and if you would if you'll just stay here with him a little while case he has any questions