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January 2000

Flagger Training Requirements

 

Do your employees ever work in public streets?  Do they set up traffic control work zones and ever need to flag traffic around the work area?  If the answer to these questions is "yes" then your "flaggers" need to be trained  "in the proper fundamentals of flagging moving traffic before being assigned as flaggers."  This amendment to CalOSHA standard 1599, went into affect 9/25/99 and applies to flaggers at locations on a construction site.  However, according to the Division of Occupational Safety & Health (DOSH), routine and non-routine sewer maintenance activities are considered construction activities and, therefore, these training requirements apply (see 12/24/99 DOSH interpretation letter to Lorri McAuliffe - attached). 

 

Training must be based on the "Manual of Traffic Controls for Construction and Maintenance Work Zones- 1996", published by the State Department of Transportation and must include the following elements:

    • Flagger equipment
    • Work zone & flagging station layout
    • Methods to signal traffic
    • Methods of one-way traffic control
    • Trainee demonstration of proper flagging methodology
    • Emergency vehicles traveling through the work zone
    • Handling emergency situations
    • Methods of handling hostile drivers
    • Single flagger - flagging procedures

 

This training must be properly documented and the training must be provided by a person who is qualified and experienced.  According to DOSH, experience does not necessarily require hands-on flagging experience by the instructor, but refers to the instructors experience delivering training and his/her ability to effectively instruct employees in the fundamentals of flagging moving traffic.

 

To help your agency with this training requirement, the CSRMA training library has a training video entitled "Flagging Safety."   However, the video of itself does not provide the required training.  A "knowledgeable" trainer will need to provide instruction and employees will need to show competency through hands-on demonstration of their understanding of proper flagging techniques. 

 

If in-house training is not an option, the Sacramento Safety Center is one resource to consider.  The Safety Center has certified instructors in the National Safety Council's "Flagging Certification" program which can be delivered at your site.  For more information on this training program, call Jerry Bach at (800)825-7262, extension 216.