ATSSA The Signal January February 2020

Training News American Traffic Safety Services Association 32 Training and education have been core components of ATSSA since its founding 50 years ago, but they received even greater emphasis with creation of the Association’s Roadway Safety Train- ing Institute in 2001. Since then, nearly 1million people have been trained through ATSSA and roughly 200,000 have earned ATSSA certification in at least one of nine areas, according to Training Program Manager Jessica Scheyder. David Rush, a 41-year veteran of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), worked with ATSSA to create guardrail and truck-mounted attenu- ator (TMA) training over the years and said ATSSA training has had an impact on roadway safety in his state. “I’ve seen thework zones improve awhole lot. Crashnumbers are lower thanbefore we started training,” said Rush, VDOT’s Work Zone Safety ProgramManager and ATSSA Virginia Chapter secretary. Virginia recorded an average of 3,375 work zone crashes from 2006 to 2008 and saw the number drop to 2,538 a decade later, he said. In fact, VDOT’s recognition of the impor- tance of training led to establishment of a statewide training program in late 2008. ATSSA’s work has remained at the fore- front for the industry as a result of its core purpose to advance roadway safety and its philosophy that “Safer Roads Save Lives.” That emphasis led to the Association receiving support from the Federal High- way Administration (FHWA) Work Zone Safety Grant program every year it has awarded funds. ATSSA is one of only three organizations nationwide to claim that achievement, receiving funding in 2006, 2011, 2013, and 2016. FHWA created the grant program in 2005 to help nonprofit and not-for-profit orga- nizations develop guidelines for work zone safety and to provide training for construction workers and groups that implement the guidelines. “Training is an important element of the work zone safety initiative and ATSSA’s work zone safety grant plays a significant role inmeeting the training needs of the industry and improvingoverall work zone safety,” said Jawad Paracha, FHWAWork Zone Safety ProgramManager. ATSSA is the main resource for work zone traffic control training, which is used by transportation departments years of training with impact Nearly 1 million educated on roadway safety over ATSSA’s history By The Numbers 200,000 Number of people who have earned ATSSA certification 50 Years since the founding of ATSSA 1 Million people trained through ATSSA