A new state audit found concerns about work area safety reporting, training and documentation at the Michigan Department of Transportation.
The audit assessed the ability of MDOT’s Work Zone Management Unit to monitor work zone safety and maintain compliance, examining data from March 2022 through last November.
Overall, the audit found that MDOT was largely adequate in managing and complying with safety regulations in its work areas.
Department of Transportation spokesman Jeff Cranson said the outside perspective was helpful in ensuring the agency was meeting all of its requirements.
“The only way to know if you followed them is if they documented it. At the end of the day, they sat down, checked off all the boxes and did what they were supposed to do. And they learned that in some cases they didn’t do that and they need to do better,” Cranson said.
In total, the report identified three significant findings related to reporting and record keeping and one reportable finding due to lack of training requirements.
During the review period, the Michigan Office of the Auditor General found that accident analyses were lacking and that there were delays in internal reporting of fatal accidents. The audit found that ambiguities in department policies may have contributed to some of the findings.
Cranson said the issues identified during the audit were primarily administrative in nature and had no impact on public safety.
“It’s about following the processes they have in place to document things and making sure you sit down at the end of the day and take careful notes and document everything you’ve done,” Cranson said.
The agency responded to the concerns during the review by noting that it had already begun working with the authorities of the Federal Ministry of Transport to update its policies and procedures.
