WORKING to repair Somerset’s roads will be a lot less dangerous thanks to innovative safety measures being bought in.

Stop and go boards traditionally held in place by road workers are being replaced by self-standing signage fitted with cameras and warnings.

The equipment is designed to reduce accidents and abuse of road workers by removing the need for operatives to stand close to moving traffic.

Somerset County Council worked with its agent Skanska, which helps deliver highways projects for the authority, on the project, which comes after statistics showing 14 UK workers seriously injured while operating traffic management systems over the past year.

Incidents of motorists ignoring signs, as well as physically or verbally abusing workers have also been recorded.

Cllr David Fothergill, the county’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The county council takes staff safety and any abuse of its employees and sub-contractors very seriously and any actions that put road workers at risk will not be tolerated.

“I am therefore pleased that Skanska has worked with its employees and the council to create a solution to this problem.”

The signs are equipped with a wide-angle automatic recording system, providing hi-resolution images which use an intelligent power management system which automatically turns the sign off when not in use, prolonging the life of the battery.

Kenny Gallagher, Skanska site agent at the Priorswood depot in Taunton, said: “These signs act as a great deterrent and will encourage drivers to slow down and pay attention, improving the safety of our workers and the travelling public.

“The cameras record continuously, so if an incident does occur, we have the evidence to pursue a prosecution and hopefully secure a conviction.”

The stop and go traffic management system is an important part of road maintenance and is based on the manual control of traffic, which avoids disruption and reduces queue times for motorists.