A Smarter, Safer Future for Roadworkers
As part of National Road Safety Week, we spoke with Beth Lilford, Head of Digital at Altus Group, to explore how cutting-edge digital solutions are helping protect roadworkers in some of the most high-risk environments in Australia.
TURNING WORKSITES INTO SMART ZONES
Q: Beth, in simple terms, what is Workzone Digitisation and why is it such a big deal for traffic management in Australia?
Beth: Workzone Digitisation is a live, integrated safety system designed to protect frontline road workers in high-risk traffic environments. Think of it as turning a worksite into a smart zone, using sensors, alarms, and real-time monitoring to detect and respond to danger before it escalates. It’s a big shift from how things have traditionally been done, where safety was reactive and reliant on human observation. Now, with live alerts and data, we can act immediately to keep people safe.
WHY ALTUS TOOK THE LEAD
Q: What prompted Altus Traffic to take the lead in bringing this technology to Australia?
Beth: Honestly, it was the growing urgency. Last year, Australia recorded its highest road death toll in over a decade, and our crews are working metres from live traffic. Fatigue, speed, distraction—it’s all increasing. Traditional controls like cones and signage just aren't enough anymore. We knew we had to evolve and get ahead of risk rather than responding after the fact. So, we partnered with Highway Resource Solutions (HRS) / Rammuden Digital from the UK, who’ve already had success with this in Europe, Canada and Asia Pacific. We worked closely with them to adapt the solution for Australian conditions.
WHAT’S IN THE WORKZONE DIGITISATION SYSTEM
Q: Can you walk us through what makes up the system?
Beth: Definitely. The system brings together four main technologies, each designed to tackle a specific risk on site. First, we’ve got the Portable Site Alarms, which alert crews immediately if a vehicle enters the workzone without authorisation. Then there are Cone Sensors, which detect if a cone is knocked over - often the first sign of a site incursion.
We also use Sentry Lasers, which create a virtual boundary around exclusion zones. If something crosses that invisible line, whether it be a person or a vehicle the system triggers real-time alerts and notifies crews. And finally, we have Intellitags, small devices that track the status and location of traffic signs, so we know straight away if one’s missing, moved, or been damaged. This allows our crews to stay on site and only respond to event-based asset notifications.
What ties it all together is the live dashboard, giving road crews and supervisors instant visibility and control. It means we’re not reacting after the fact; we’re preventing incursions and responding to incidents in real time.
REAL TIME CONFIDENCE FOR CREWS
Q: How does this change the day-to-day reality for road crews?
Beth: It gives them confidence and control. Workers now know the moment something unsafe happens, and they don’t have to rely solely on what they can see or hear. That level of situational awareness just hasn’t existed in traffic management before – they have a far greater chance of returning home at the end of their shift.
TANGIBLE RESULTS AND A SAFER FUTURE
Q: What kind of results or impact have you seen so far?
Beth: The results so far speak for themselves. More than half of our deployments have detected cone strikes, real on-site hazards we can now capture and respond to. We’ve seen average speeds through workzones drop by 12 km/h when digital is deployed, which is a major win for safety.
Crews have had 178 early incursion alerts, giving them time to act before something goes wrong. Signage accuracy is sitting at 99.87% across hundreds of thousands of hours, and we’ve cut down emissions by 97% just by reducing the need for routine checks.
Beyond the numbers, the way we deliver work is starting to shift. The insights from post-shift reports are helping contractors and clients make smarter and safer decisions - adjusting shift times to avoid high-risk windows and updating controls based on real incident data.
And the value of the data doesn’t stop at the end of a shift. We’re starting to use it to spot longer-term trends, whether it be identifying consistent risks across similar projects or informing how future work should be planned. It’s helping everyone move from reactive safety to something more proactive and strategic. Near misses and incidents aren’t just stories anymore; we have the data to prove what’s happening and what needs to change.
BREAKING THROUGH THE BARRIERS
Q: Sounds like a huge shift. Was it smooth sailing to implement?
Beth: Not quite. Bringing a digital-first system into a traditionally manual industry meant we hit some challenges, especially around change resistance and technology integration. Some crews were initially hesitant, which is fair - new tech can feel like ‘more complexity’. But we made the introduction of the equipment a collaborative process. We worked closely with our frontline workers better known as our ‘Digital Champions’, incorporated their feedback into the design, and showed how it makes their jobs safer, not harder. Once they saw that, the buy-in grew quickly. We have crews now specifically request to be on a digital site. I’d call that a win.
PAVING THE WAY WITHOUT A REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
Q: Did the absence of a defined regulatory framework in Australia impact the implementation process?
Beth: A little. Unlike the UK, where this kind of system is already government-recognised, Australia didn’t have a clear pathway. So, we started early conversations with regulators and authorities, showing them how it works, where it fits in a workzone, and the safety outcomes it's already delivering. That early engagement gave confidence to our clients and helped open doors for broader adoption.
WHAT’S NEXT
Q: What’s next for Workzone Digitisation and Altus?
Beth: We’re just getting started. As more clients experience the value firsthand, demand is accelerating, and interest continues to grow. We’re also layering in additional data sources like traffic speeds and weather conditions to sharpen our risk prediction further.
Our vision is big, Zero Harm isn’t just our goal, it’s the reality we’re working towards, and we’re building the technology to get us there.
For Further Information:
- Find out more about the Workzone Digitisation system here.
- If you would like further information about Workzone Digitisation, please contact our Head of Digital, Beth Lilford at beth.lilford@altusgroup.com.au