Please use these to support questions relating to version 1 of the New Zealand guide to temporary traffic management.

CoPTTM is not broken, why change to the NZGTTM?

The current Code of Practice for Temporary Traffic Management (CoPTTM) has been in place for over 20 years, yet safety issues keep happening under it.

People continue to die and be seriously injured at TTM sites and this needs to change. Between 2017 and 2021, there were 43 fatal crashes and 287 serious injury crashes at road work sites with temporary speed limits. This is an increase on the previous 5-year period.

Within our industry, there’s a growing shift to a risk-based approach – it’s time for our national approach to temporary traffic management to reflect this and put the safety of our road workers and road users first.

Waka Kotahi’s new guidance aims to change the way we plan and manage people’s safety at TTM sites. The new guidance puts risk assessment and planning first. This is to make sure the TTM control types, design, and equipment used will keep people safe. 

The NZGTTM has been designed to be consistent with WorkSafe’s new Good Practice Guideline: Keeping safe and healthy on the road and roadside(external link) to help organisations  meet their legal obligations under HSWA.

How will the new guidance improve road safety?

Waka Kotahi is committed to Road to Zero, a safer Aotearoa New Zealand where no one is killed or seriously injured on our roads.

Waka Kotahi believes all road workers and road users should go home safe every day, whether they’re on state highways or local roads.

There is more to do to make this a reality. Waka Kotahi’s new guidance is one step in the right direction. Other initiatives are also underway to improve road safety – research to support our risk-based approach, safety camera trials and road worker safety education campaigns.

The NZGTTM puts risk assessment and planning first before decisions and control types and equipment are made. This new risk-based approach ensures that TTM setups are as safe as possible for the specific risks at each site.

In practice, this means that the NZGTTM acts as an important tool to encourage a new way of thinking and planning at the start of a project. It aims to encourage everyone to take responsibility for managing people’s safety by identifying safety risks and putting appropriate steps in place to keep people safe first, rather than considering the traffic management plan later.

How will Waka Kotahi transition to the new guidance?

To show our support for this new approach, Waka Kotahi will adopt the new guidance first at our own worksites across our transport network.

Construction and maintenance suppliers who carry out road works across our state highway network (Fulton Hogan, Downer, Higgins, HEB and WSP) along with Waka Kotahi, are the early adopters of the new risk-based guidance.

Waka Kotahi is working with its partners and suppliers to support them to respond and resource the new approach, while still meeting Waka Kotahi requirements on its contracts.

To help this transition, Waka Kotahi suppliers tested the new risk-based guidance during summer 2022/2023 in these areas:

  • Northland - Fulton Hogan.
  • Marlborough Roads (State Highways only) - Fulton Hogan and HEB.
  • North Canterbury – Downer.
  • Westlink – WSP.
  • Manawatu – Higgins.

During 2023, Waka Kotahi will work with its partners and suppliers on a range of transition activities including:

  • updating Waka Kotahi contract requirements over time
  • developing additional guidance notes and supporting material for the TTM library to outline how the NZGTTM principles can be applied in practice
  • rolling out educational workshops and regional roadshows
  • supporting the new industry-led TTM steering group to deliver a successful transition from CoPTTM to the NZGTTM and to redevelop the wider sector’s training requirements.

Waka Kotahi also welcomes the wider industry to work together to support the transition to the new guidance and improve road safety. Waka Kotahi recognises this represents a change in the way the industry delivers its work and that adopting the new approach will require strong support across the sector.

How will Waka Kotahi support the industry to transition to the new guidance?

Our first step to support the industry to transition to the NZGTTM will start with adopting the new risk-based approach at Waka Kotahi work sites consistently across the transport network. We’re working closely with our construction and maintenance suppliers to transition now, and we welcome any other stakeholders to use the new guidance.

The recently established industry-led steering group for road worker safety will play a vital role to support a successful transition from CoPTTM to the NZGTTM.

The role of the TTM industry steering group is to represent the views of the collective TTM industry and to take the lead on how the industry can adopt the new guidance at road works in practical terms. Waka Kotahi looks forward to supporting this group, along with other forums and stakeholder groups, to help support the wider industry to transition to the risk-based approach.

Industry-led TTM steering group(external link)

What does a contractor do if a worksite requires approval from different Road Controlling Authorities who use different guides?

In all cases, the contracting PCBU (client), lead contractor PCBU, sub-contractor PCBU and

engineer/designer PCBU must comply with the requirements of New Zealand legislation, in this case the

Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA 2015). Industry best practice guides such as the NZGTTM and WorkSafe’s Good Practice Guide: Keeping healthy and safe while working on the road or roadside do not change these legal obligations.

Where more than one PCBU has the same duty, they must consult, cooperate, and coordinate as far as reasonably practicable - refer to HSWA 2015 Section 34 Subsection 1.

When a lead contractor PCBU prepares a risk assessment they must consult, coordinate, and cooperate with the Road Controlling Authorities (RCA), the RCA must consult, coordinate, and cooperate with the lead contractor to make sure all reasonably practicable steps have been taken to ensure the safety of workers and others.

Alternatively, if a lead contractor PCBU follows traditional CoPTTM process and doesn’t prepare a risk

assessment and submits to an RCA for approval, the RCA is encouraged to ask for a risk assessment.

WorkSafe’s Good Practice Guide: Keeping healthy and safe while working on the road or roadside(external link)

What is the difference between the guide and the practice notes that can be found in the TTM library?

The guide provides advice on how to keep people safe at temporary traffic work sites. It aims to help persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to meet their duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA). It includes a general introduction to risk management along with TTM engineering principles and guidance for transport practitioners planning and preparing for temporary traffic management activity.

The TTM library has supporting information and resources on a range of topics to help the industry to put the guide into practice. In the TTM library you will find three categories of notes:

Guidance notes - following the TTM principles introduced in the guide, these notes outline how these principles can be applied in practice. The notes will also include guidance on how to manage unusual circumstances using the principles of the guide.

Operational practice notes - risks and considerations of control measures that the contracting PCBU determines are appropriate for regularly repeated specific activities. Operational practice notes are foundational to TMP’s for site specific and pre-approved reusable schemes.

Administrative notes - various administrative and process requirements to bring life to the TTM system principles including forms and documentation that are relevant while preparing or implementing a TMP, audit forms and on-site record forms.

Waka Kotahi and our industry partners have provided some resources as a starting point, and as more are developed by the TTM industry these will be added to the TTM library.

TTM library

Risk management can be subjective, how does the guide ensure consistency?

Risk management enables the organisations to work together to identify the risks present at a site. This flexibility enables the safest possible risk control option to be identified and implemented.

The NZGTTM includes tools that are useful to assist with this:

  • Focus on risk of harm to people from the activity. Consider all groups of people affected such as road workers, TTM crews, vehicle drivers, vehicle passengers, vulnerable road users.
  • Apply the hierarchy of controls. Use the hierarchy of controls to identify the safest reasonably practicable solutions for a site, this is a legal requirement.
  • Apply engineering standards. Geometric design for the site layout, traffic control devices rule and Waka Kotahi M23 for equipment standards, along with other guides and standards referenced in the NZGTTM toolbox.

How is disagreement of management of risks resolved?

The first step is for the lead contractor PCBU to work with the Road Controlling Authority, rail authority, airports, port organisations and others to consult, coordinate, and cooperate to reach agreement.

Where the consult, cooperate, consult approach fails the recommended next course of action is to involve the contracting PCBU to mediate the disagreement. This is because they have duties, as part of the contracting chain, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

In addition, it’s important to note that the lead contractor PCBU is likely to be best placed as the site manager, as they have greatest influence and control over what happens onsite. As a result, the lead contractor PCBU must ensure that the controls implemented onsite are as safe as reasonably practicable. 

The transport operator author, such as an RCA, rail access authority, airport or port organisations, also have duties under applicable legislation that must be fulfilled. These pieces of legislation require that the safety of workers and transport system users is ensured. This includes approval of road closures, access onto rail, airport or port land and other matters.