What Does a Road Safety Auditor Do?

Road safety auditors are in charge of formally assessing the danger levels on roads and at intersections. The roads and intersections that road safety auditors are concerned with may already exist or be under construction. The road safety auditors’ findings have a big influence on whether and how a road or intersection project gets started.

As a road safety auditor, he must follow the rules set forth the government agency in charge of the highway system, such as the Federal Highway Administration in the United States. The steps that the auditor must take during the audit are dictated these guidelines. Failure to follow these steps could cause delays in the project and audit results.

A public agency, such as a road commission or city government, first determines which intersection or road needs to be audited. After that, the agency contacts a road safety agency and hires auditors to oversee the project. After the public agency has assembled an auditing team, the auditors collaborate with the agency to establish specific auditing parameters. For example, they specify the project’s scope, the tasks that the auditors and public agency must complete, the project’s start date, and the report and response deadlines. Auditors typically send out a formal letter stating their understanding of the project, but they also have a formal primary meeting with members of the public agency to discuss the project in greater detail and ensure everyone is on the same page.

A road safety auditor enters the field after defining the project and responsibilities. He goes to the project site and looks for anything that could cause a collision or injury. The auditor assesses the site from a variety of perspectives, including that of a small car driver, a truck driver, a pedestrian, and a cyclist. He makes an effort to treat everyone’s safety as equally important.

A road safety auditor may conduct interviews as part of the field audit. The individuals could be regular users of the road or intersection, or they could be people involved in the area’s safety, such as police officers. The goal is to collect as much anecdotal and statistical data as possible about the problems in the area.

The next step for road safety auditors is to analyze the road or intersection based on the information gathered. They write a formal report outlining the risks and benefits in the area. The report includes recommendations for how the government agency could reduce or eliminate the risks. The report is presented to members of the public agency the road safety auditor.

Following receipt of the report, the public agency working on a road safety project has the opportunity to respond to the road safety auditor’s report. It must submit a formal statement outlining how it intends to address the auditor’s recommendations. If a public agency is unable to carry out a suggestion, it must explain why in its response. Lack of funding is a common reason for agencies failing to follow the auditor’s recommendations, despite the fact that they often go to great lengths to raise the funds required to provide adequate public safety.

Working with the public agency to incorporate the audit findings into the road or intersection project is the final step for a road safety auditor. They might, for example, communicate with companies that can provide project services on the agency’s behalf or assist the agency in developing a revised project schedule. They usually conduct follow-up audits to monitor the project’s progress.