Australia’s leading provider of Road Safety Audits
RSA has been undertaking road safety audits, risk assessments, legal expert witness, safe system assessments and DDA assessments across Australia since 1994. Our team have expertise in roads, rail, logistics, mining, and car parks. We assess safety issues affecting drivers, workers, pedestrians and cyclists.
Introduction to RSA
Established in 1994, RSA is Australia’s leading road safety auditing company. Our team specialises in road safety auditing, accessibility and DDA audits, expert legal advice, pedestrian and cyclist safety audits, traffic management, road safety barriers, construction staging and tender advice, and safe system assessments.
RSA has undertaken Road Safety Audits across all stages of design and construction for the majority of Australia’s largest infrastructure projects with clients and project experience in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Road Safety Audits
Road Safety Audits (RSAs) are an internationally recognised tool for assessing safety issues within existing and new road networks – during the design stage, the construction/ roadwork stage and during pre and post-opening stages.
DDA - Accessibility Audits
The Disability Discrimination Act seeks to eliminate, as far as possible, discrimination against persons on the ground of disability. Within public spaces and transport infrastructure, the objective is to enable access for everyone.
Safety System Assessment
Safe Systems is a philosophy for considering the various elements of the transport system forming an environment which eliminates the potential for serious and fatal injury crashes. The Safe System philosophy accepts that road users makes mistakes but aims to provide an environment which prevents the road users from suffering serious or fatal injuries as a consequence of mistakes.
RSA has extensive experience undertaking Safe System Assessments, especially for major road infrastructure projects and for initiatives involving vulnerable road users including motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.
Our Safe System assessments are informed by the Austroads Safe System Assessment Framework. Many of the principles of Safe System assessments overlap with Road Safety Audits, however Safe Systems is particularly orientated to identifying and treating crashes that could lead to serious or fatal injuries. The crash types include ‘run-of road’, head-on, side impact and vulnerable road users. As with Road Safety Audits, the risks components include exposure (i.e. traffic volumes), crash likelihood and crash severity.
Legal Expert Witness
As RSA’s team, includes senior members with 15+ years’ experience in road safety, we are often engaged to provide expert witness advice for transport and traffic legal matters. RSA’s legal clients include many major national and international law firms.
RSA’s approach to expert legal advice typically involves:
- A review of the site, including event reconstruction if required;
Preparation of an investigation report;
- Assessment of contributing factors such as signage, delineation, sightlines and traffic management schemes;
Assessment of obligations within the Road Management Acts;
- Assessment of road design deficiencies including vertical and horizontal geometry;
- Assessment of crash barrier set-ups and ‘fitness for purpose’; and;
- Assessment of crashes and incidents within road work environments.
Risk Assessment
Risk assessments apply similar principles and methodologies as Road Safety Audits to assessing transport and traffic environments, identify issues, quantify risks and consider treatments and solutions.
As with Road Safety Audits, RSA performs risk assessments in any setting involving vehicles and persons, including on and off-road environments such as carparks, freight centres, airports and ports.
Risk assessments consider all network users including motorists, motorcyclists, public transport users, pedestrians, cyclists, heavy transport users and disabled users.
Risk assessments are often undertaken when there is history of ‘near misses’ or crashes. These assessments comprised a structured approach to identifying underlying issues affecting the safety of a traffic environment.
Other Specialisations
TRAINING
RSA can train your team on issues such as road safety, traffic management, protocols for managing moving equipment using our pre-existing training modules or develop bespoke training material specific to your needs.
OPTIONEERING
RSA is often engaged to provide optioneering expertise. Especially during project initiation or concept design, optioneering can be a valuable methodology to assessment various options taking account of issues such as safety, stakeholder issues, cost and land acquisition.
CRASH ASSESSMENT
RSA can undertake crash assessments and analysis of specific crashes or ‘black spot’ sites. Our teams can liaise with other experts as required to undertake crash site reconstructions and detailed analysis. We can also develop mitigation solutions.
Our Case Studies
Our expertise covers all modes of transport and interactions between motorised vehicles and people as workers, drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. RSA’s is engaged to support projects ranging from a few thousand dollars to over $10 billion.
North East Link, Victoria
At project initiation with staging layout designs, RSA analysed broad key safety issues
Princes Highway Duplication, Kilmany, Victoria
As part of the 12km Stage 3 duplication of Princes Highway East (Traralgon to Sale), RSA carried out desktop and
Taylors Road Upgrade, Bonnie Brook, Victoria
New or upgraded roads in existing or growth areas generate the need for road safety audits of plans and staging
Lavers Hill-Cobden Road, Jancourt East, Victoria
The project involved an intersection and bridge upgrade at Lavers Hill-Cobden Road / Timboon-Colac Road, Jancourt East.
Logistics / Industrial
Recent examples of RSA working outside of public roads and assisting logistics/ industrial facilities includes: Toll Holdings (Tullamarine); Austral Bricks
