TTM Review

Code of Practice Document Update

Tēnā koutou kātoa,

Waka Kotahi is reviewing the Code of Practice for Temporary Traffic Management (COPTTM).

We have made good progress and thought it was an opportune time to provide you with an update.

How is the review being approached?

A risk-based approach to safety is now commonplace across NZ.

• CoPTTM in its current form steers users to a compliance or tick-box based approach to applying temporary traffic management in practice
• Compliance-based temporary traffic management does not guarantee safety or minimise the risk of harm
• We want to shift away from ‘following a guide’ to recognising our accountabilities as PCBU’s to manage risks

When we initially set out to review the document, we looked at how it might be improved (in its current form) and how it can better align with the Austroads guide.

After receiving over 700 items of feedback from the TTM sector and through assistance and engagement with the sector, we have decided to move to a much simpler risk-based approach to TTM.

This will also align to WorkSafe NZ’s’ scheduled release of their Good Practice Guide.

The renamed NZ Guide to Temporary Traffic Management will have four main parts:

1. Policies - basic legislative framework for safety
2. Procedures - aimed to assist the identification and management of TTM risk
3. Links to specific traffic management rules
4. Practice notes (Appendix) - specific guides developed by groups within the sector for their industry.

Who is doing the review?

We have a project team within Waka Kotahi, led by a Programme Director with experience in large scale change, as well as seconding Ryan Cooney who has been seconded from Downer to assist the drafting the guide. Both have the assistance of Danny Wood, Acting Principal Traffic & Safety Engineer and Kim Laurenson, Senior Advisor, Technical Training and Education, Safe and Sustainable Standards.

We also have formed a Governance Group, comprising from our industry partners CE's of Downer, Fletchers, Fulton Hogan and HEB, WorkSafe NZ, ACE NZ and CCNZ. The group is chaired by Brett Gliddon, General Manager, Transport Services - Waka Kotahi.

The Governance Group will oversee the work of the project team and provide valuable guidance on our priorities.

When is review / drafting of the NZ Guide to TTM happening?

We are currently drafting the first two parts of the NZ Guide to TTM, as well as collaborating with a few groups within the sector to construct example practice notes.

As the Guide will sit under the WorkSafe Guide, we want to wait until the WorkSafe Guide is finalised before we confirm our draft. 

It is anticipated that an opportunity for the sector to provide feedback on our draft will occur in December 2021 - January 2022.

Next steps:

Now that we have a clear programme of work, we will have regular updates and opportunities for everyone to provide feedback on our progress. You can also visit our website for further information and FAQs. These will be updated regularly so please check back here for the latest information.

To share more detail about the changes planned to the Copttm, I will be running two webinars with the sector on the following dates:

• Friday 22 October – 9:30am-10am
• Tuesday 26 October – 11:30am - 12pm

Please look out for an invite over the next few days.

I’d like to acknowledge and thank you all for your valuable input, and especially our stakeholder group leads for their time and commitment to keeping our road workers safe.

Vanessa Browne
National Manager, Programme and Standards
Transport Services