URS Report - Incident Management Study

Executive Summary

Purpose of Study

The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of what happens during major incident clearance; the roles and responsibilities of those organisations taking part; and to provide recommendations for improvement.

Context of Study

Good incident management is a very important goal for all concerned with the management and safe operation of the road network. Incidents account for about 25% of congestion on the trunk road network. Incident-related traffic congestion (including secondary impacts) detrimentally affects public safety, the local economy and the environment.

The management of the trunk road network has changed significantly over the last 5 years or so with the introduction of new arrangements for managing this. New initiatives are being pursued but often on an area by area basis. New technology also brings opportunities to improve the efficiency of incident management but which will necessitate closer liaison between the police and highway authorities. Against this background, the Motorists' Forum has questioned whether it was possible to reduce the time taken to clear incidents with the suggestion that a performance indicator be agreed to halve by 2004 the average time taken to clear the effects of serious incidents.

Study Method

The study method was essentially qualitative in nature and covered three main activities:

1. Gathering of data and information to provide a greater depth of understanding of current practices in the UK and experiences elsewhere (literature review, meetings and site visits).
2. Workshops in three locations (West Midlands, Cheshire and North Yorkshire) to identify current practices, the sequencing of actions and interactions between the organisations involved and key issues and areas for improvement.
3. A formal qualitative task analysis of data gathered.

Main Conclusions

1. There are a number of relatively short-term but potentially high profile initiatives that can be taken to aid incident management such as enhanced location signing on featureless highways and permanent symbol signing of diversion routes. These will clearly have a resource implication. Initiatives that emerge as most needed, in relation to the issues identified in the workshops, are those that concentrate on foreshortening the 'platinum' period i.e. the first 20 to 30 minutes after the incident is reported.
2. The setting up of targets for major incidents is hampered by the complexity of such incidents and the fact that no two are the same. Mechanisms for evaluation can and should be developed on the basis of local agreement between all the key organisations. Participants at the workshops were keen to improve their own organisations' performances through greater training, management and co-ordination with others. However, the imposition of targets from above would not at this time achieve wider ownership of integrated incident management processes. Incident management should involve all the key stakeholders to maximise the potential of new technology.
3. Very different highway operating environments apply which work against the setting up of an overall national target e.g. to cut clearance time by half. Technological innovation in the form of new management systems, such the traffic control centre, is expected to help reduce overall incident clearance times. This could come about through the use of new technology, particularly with regard to incident detection and response, and greater integration between the police and highway operators. There is currently a dearth of data relating to incident clearance which needs to be addressed.
4. There is a distinction between major incidents, where there is an interaction between a number of organisations, and less significant ones which may disrupt the flow of traffic but not involve personal injury. The Highways Agency (HA) is pursuing initiatives in these areas with the advent of Rapid Reaction teams in Area 8, 10 and 16 (vans and motorcyclists) and Minuteman (to clear light vehicles) on the A1 and A63. Both have achieved demonstrable benefits in economic terms. However they need to be seen as part of a wider area strategy, all types of incident, which is integrated with those organisations responsible for incident clearance.
5. No one organisation has overall responsibility for 'Incident Management' - each plays its own part and may pursue a wide variety of initiatives aimed at improving this. Informal agreements and liaison do take place between the various organisations - often at middle management level and as a result of major incidents. However the development of sustainable cross-organisational agreements and plans (including the setting of targets and monitoring) would be severely hampered by the lack of more formalised incident management processes and organisational clarity.
6. The HA is the only organisation involved with incident clearance that has congestion as a key performance indicator. The benefits of incident management leading to reduced clearance times are, in large part, measured in terms of improved traffic flow and reduced congestion.
7. The trunk road network should be viewed as a 'safety critical system' in the same way that the railway network is one. This is an important metaphor to take on board in planning and development of the network. The reason for this is that it changes the way the roles of all key stakeholders might be viewed. There is a range of established methods for training people and developing organisations which emerge from best practice in the management of safety critical systems. These provide a number of ways forward for the management of the trunk road network including a recognition that the traffic police are, presently, the operators of the system in a very real manner. As such they undertake an essential role in underpinning incident management which cannot be replaced by less trained personnel. The Home Office's 'Police Reform' programme may however present opportunities for a limited transfer to accredited organisations/wardens engaged by the HA to assist with incident management.

Recommendations - Short Version

Recommendation 1 - Operational

Short term but potentially high profile initiatives should be reviewed with a view to implementation. These include enhanced location signing on featureless highways and permanent symbol signed diversion routes.

Recommendation 2 - Institutional

The Highways Agency should take on the key role of developing, negotiating, implementing and monitoring better incident management procedures.

Recommendation 3 - Monitoring

An incident database should be established, initially in trial areas. The concept of incident recording should then be rolled out to other areas or regions. Regional agreements on evaluation measures can then be developed from local incident data but co-ordinated at a national level.

Recommendation 4 - Organisational

A top-down review should be undertaken of such organisational factors as contractual arrangements, cross-organisational working practices, management practices and allocation of responsibilities at all levels. This review to include a proper assessment of the possibilities of using non-police management of some incidents or elements of incidents including accident investigation.

Recommendation 5 - Guidelines and Planning Support

The lead body, jointly with ACPO, should develop the output from this study (with other stakeholders where appropriate) to produce an agreed 'National Guidance Framework' (NGF) for the top level 'good practice' incident management culture, procedures and processes.

Recommendation 6 - Guidelines and Planning Support

Thereafter the NGF to inform all service providers within a region which, whilst reflecting the tenets of the NGF, enables unique Detailed Local Operating Agreements (DLOAs) to meet the topographical, institutional and infrastructural needs of the area.

Recommendation 7 - Training

Linked with Recommendations 5 and 6, a pool of training and development materials should be prepared, cross-organisational training values and priorities developed and other training models related to management of safety critical systems reviewed.

Recommendation 8 - Technological

Longer term technological initiatives which can assist incident management should be critically reviewed. These include improvements in communication systems, camera equipment, GIS/GPS and transfer of CCTV images to other emergency services and clear-up contractors.

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