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Table 7. NYSDOT construction worker for night work operations. These findings pertain to both
accident types. traffic crashes and construction accidents.
Accident Type Daytime Nighttime
Accidents Accidents · About half of daytime work zone traffic crashes and 60 per-
(n = 931) (n = 114) cent of nighttime work zone crashes on NYSDOT freeways
Falls Elevated 4.1% 6.2%
Slip/Trip Strain 17.6% 18.6%
and expressways occur during traffic lane closures. This
Accident with Tool or Material 30.4% 27.4% statistically significant increase in lane closure crashes at
Worker Hit by Equipment or night is probably the result of the higher relative frequency
Construction Vehicle 6.3% 7.1%
Other Equipment or Vehicle Accident 8.5% 13.3% of lane closure operations at night, rather than a higher
Utility Contact 26.4% 17.7% crash risk.
Other Accident 6.7% 9.7%
· Overall, there appears to be little difference in traffic crash
Chi-Square Test Results Daytime and nighttime
distributions are not severity between daytime and nighttime work operations
significantly differenta on freeway and expressway facilities. However, worker-
a
X2 = 4.523 < X 2
Crit (6, 0.025) = 12.592 involved traffic crashes at nighttime work zones were sig-
nificantly more severe than in daytime. It should be noted
that worker "involvement" did not necessarily imply that
nighttime work activities and account for 6 to 7 percent of all
the worker was struck by the vehicle; the higher percentage
construction worker accidents.
of severe crashes at night was often drivers or passengers in
the vehicle rather than the worker. If a worker was struck,
Severity of Construction Worker Accidents it usually resulted in an injury regardless of whether it oc-
curred during the day or at night.
The severity of construction accidents occurring during day- · Rear-end collisions comprise a smaller proportion of work
time and nighttime work operations is compared in Table 8. zone traffic crashes at night work zone operations than dur-
During night work, a slightly greater percentage of construc- ing daytime operations. This result is consistent with ex-
tion accidents resulted in injuries than during daytime work, pectations that moving work activities to nighttime hours
although this small difference is not statistically significant. reduces congestion and queuing that can lead to higher
It is particularly noteworthy that only three worker fatalities rear-end crash frequencies. Also, working at night does not
resulted from construction accidents over a 6-year period appear to result in more serious rear-end crashes (when
(0.3 percent of 931 reported accidents), and they all occurred they do occur) than during daytime work operations.
in daytime operations. · Crashes involving workers, construction vehicles or equip-
ment, and construction materials and debris (both intrusion
and non-intrusion crashes) comprise a greater percentage
Summary of Findings
of crashes at night than during the day. Intrusion crashes
The following key findings are drawn from the NYSDOT involving workers (those of most concern to agencies and
work zone accident database regarding work zones on free- highway contractors) are a higher percentage of crashes at
way and expressway facilities, which are most often targeted night than during daytime hours. However, they are only
a small proportion of the total work zone crash experience
in either time period.
Table 8. NYSDOT construction worker · Intrusion crashes at nighttime work operations for all types
accident severity. of traffic control combined are significantly more severe than
Injury Severity Daytime Nighttime at daytime work operations. A similar trend is evident for
Accidents Accidents lane closure crashes, although the differences between night-
(n = 931) (n = 114)
Fatal 0.3% 0.0%
time and daytime conditions are not statistically significant.
Injury 65.2% 73.5% · The types of construction worker accidents occurring at
None/PDO 34.5% 26.5% NYSDOT freeway and expressway work zones do not differ
Chi-Square Test Results Daytime and nighttime
distributions are not significantly between daytime and nighttime operations.
significantly different a · The severity of construction worker accidents does not dif-
a
X2 = 2.846 < X 2
Crit (1, 0.025) = 3.841 fer significantly between daytime and nighttime operations.
