04
SET THE ZONE — CONES, BEACON, VEST
NOVA SKILL MODULE M-04
Read: 6 min
Full rules: NU-SAF-105
The buffer is the only thing between a distracted driver and your crew. Traffic control goes up BEFORE anything else comes off the truck, and it gets photographed. No photo, no work.
Do it in this order — every time
- Beacon on before anybody gets out. Day or night, any time the truck is in or beside a lane.
- Truck parks between traffic and the crew. Steel first, men second.
- Front wheels turned AWAY from the crew — so a rear-end hit pushes the truck into the road, not into the men.
- Signs go out FIRST — farthest from the work, walking toward it.
- Cone spacing in feet = the speed limit. 35 mph road → cones 35 ft apart in the taper.
- Down the side of the work, double it. 35 mph → 70 ft apart.
- Leave the buffer EMPTY. No men, no gear, no spoils, no truck. That is the crash space and it is the part everybody skips.
- Box the crew, the machine, and every open hole.
- Count cones and signs OUT LOUD. Write the count on the Daily Truck Log.
- Photo from each approach, then gear comes off the truck. Takedown is the reverse — signs come out LAST — and everything gets counted back in.
HOW MANY CONES: residential 25 mph = 10–12 · truck + trailer on a 35 shoulder = 14–16 · rig on a 35 shoulder = 16–20 · 45 mph shoulder = 20–24 · lane closure at 45 = 26–30 plus flaggers.
VEST: Class 2 always. Class 3 at night, above 45 mph, and every flagger.
NEVER — THESE FOUR END IT
- Never take a lane without certified flaggers. Not a judgment call, not the crew lead's to override.
- Never walk cones into oncoming traffic — always walk with traffic, facing the way it moves.
- Never leave an open hole without protection. Overnight needs fence or plate, not cones.
- Never improvise. Curve, hill crest, intersection inside the zone, or a state route — call the Supervisor.
Signed off when he can do all three — watched, not talked about
| Sets a full zone on a 35 mph shoulder with the right spacing, unprompted. | |
| Points at the buffer and says what is allowed in it. (Nothing.) | |
| Counts out and counts back in, and writes both on the truck log. | |
Trainee name / date
FIELD SUPERVISOR initials / date — only he signs