Sign Installation Training Saves Time and Improves Safety

Item #: 20260028

CONTACTS

Implementing Organization: Region Two, Sign and Guardrail Shop
Implementation Lead: Jerry Bennett
Development Team: Jerry Bennett, Darren Parker, Kris Mckinstry (Trainer, UDOT Employee Development), and Austin Harrison (Central Weld Shop, fabricated the training mount)

Article Written By: Quinten Klingonsmith
Innovation Council Liaison: Winston Inoway
Innovation Team Coordinator: Winston Inoway

STATUS

Implementation Date: September 1, 2025
Adoption Status: Fully Implemented
Adoptability Note: What tools could you use to help with hands-on training?

APPLIES TO

Topic: Employee Development
Organization(s):
Job Role(s):
Tags: highway transportation, infrastructure preservation, labor productivity, employee empowerment, job satisfaction, occupational safety, personnel development, injuries, expenses, expenditures, education and training, inspection, ( process improvement ), education and training ( employee development ), asset management, construction, equipment, inspection, maintenance, project management, traffic safety > highway safety, trucking safety, sign, B3, torque, quality of life, user benefits

PROBLEM

Each year the Region Two Sign and Guardrail shop repairs almost 2,500 signs damaged by crashes. They noticed that many signs did not break away as designed. Instead the signs bent, causing greater damage to the vehicle and destroying the sign.

CHANGE

They tested several signs and found that the three bolts connecting the sign pole to the ground mount had been over torqued causing them to not slide free when impacted by a vehicle.

The crew collaborated with the Employee Development team to schedule training for maintenance and construction workers on the proper way to install and repair signs.

They also worked with the Central Weld Shop to design and fabricate a portable sign mount (shown here) that attaches to the 2 inch receiver hitch on their truck. This enables more effective hands-on training that would have been difficult if the whole class had to visit a sign installation in the field.

Sign installation training is now provided twice a year at statewide construction training as well as twice a year for new maintenance employees in Region Two.

RESULT

Well trained Trans Techs install and repair signs correctly so that in a crash they break away safety, as designed. When a sign breaks away properly there is only minor damage to the sign and much less damage to the vehicle. In most cases the sign can be stood back up and reattached in 5 minutes. The materials required for this simple repair cost only $26.

When a sign is attached too tightly, it cannot slide off the mount in a collision. Instead the force of the crash bends the sign post and destroys the mount and base, requiring the whole sign to be replaced. Replacing a sign can costs $1,200 in materials and takes two workers two days to dig a new post hole, pour concrete, and return days later to install a new sign. Beyond the cost to UDOT, improperly installed signs cause significantly more damage to vehicles and pose a serious threat to their occupants.

Next Steps: Other regions are encouraged to provide sign installation training. They may contact Austin Harrison at the Central Weld shop to order a portable sign mount training tool.

Portable sign mount training platform

Sign mounting hardware, including the thin aluminum keeper plate that enables the upper and lower sign mounts to easily slide past one another in a collision.

Instructor showing the class how to properly torque sign mount bolts

IMPACT

BETTER MOBILITY

Important signage is restored in a matter of days rather than weeks

GOOD HEALTH

Breakaway signs pose less of a threat to vehicle occupants who crash into signs
Reduced time working along the roadway improves the crew’s safety

CONNECTED COMMUNITIES

STRONG ECONOMY

Less property damage to vehicles that strike signs
Sign repair costs less when the sign breaks away properly in a collision
Labor hours saved

EFFICIENCIES

Estimated Cost Savings in the First Year (FY 2026): $1,647,068.93
Cost Avoidance: $26,008,115 over 20 years (Sep 1, 2025 - Sep 1, 2045)*
Labor Avoidance: 9,919 hours annually*
Benefit/Cost Ratio: 5:1

*Cost and labor avoidance are the average benefits, net of initial and ongoing expenses, projected over the expected life of the innovation. See details.

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