National Safety Data Initiative: A Common Language and the First National Findings | May 2026
AfPA publishes two companion reports from the National Safety Data Initiative — the industry-first risk matrix that made cross-organisation comparison possible, and the first national findings drawn from more than 4,000 incident records.
The Australian Flexible Pavement Association (AfPA) has today released two publications from the National Safety Data Initiative, marking the most significant advance in industry-wide safety data collaboration the Australian flexible pavement sector has seen.
The first report, A Common Language for Safety Risk, documents an industry milestone: Boral, Colas, Downer and Fulton Hogan have collectively adopted the AfPA Safety Risk Matrix as a shared standard for classifying and reporting safety incidents. For the first time in the sector’s history, competing organisations are assessing risk against a single, agreed framework, enabling true like-for-like comparison of safety data at national scale. Each organisation retains its own internal risk system; the AfPA equivalent rating sits alongside it, enabling aggregation without disruption.
The second report, What the Data Is Telling Us About Roadworker Risk, presents the first major findings from the resulting national dataset, drawn from 4,010 incident records contributed across six consecutive quarters between July 2024 and December 2025. The findings are direct and, in some respects, surprising. Public behaviour — distraction, disregard for traffic control, and aggression toward workers — emerges as the dominant hazard. Night work carries a disproportionate share of High and Extreme risk incidents, with 13–15% of overnight incidents rated serious compared to under 4% during the middle of the day. “People” accounts for nearly four times as many recorded root causes as any other category. And 15 lost time injuries across the period are a sobering reminder that the risk is real and consequential.
Together, these two publications represent the foundation of a national, evidence-based approach to roadworker safety, built on the willingness of four major contractors to set aside commercial interests in the service of a shared goal. The matrix provides the language. The dataset provides the evidence. The combination is what shifts conversations with road authorities and regulators from the anecdotal to the quantifiable.
The next phase of the initiative focuses on expanding contributor participation, improving data completeness, and deepening the analysis of incident patterns by state, time of year and traffic management configuration. Findings will be presented at the QLD TMR Engineering, Innovation and Technology Forum in August 2026, and again at the 21st AfPA International Conference in 2027.
AfPA members are encouraged to review both publications and to contact the National Health & Safety Committee to discuss adopting the AfPA Safety Risk Matrix or contributing data to the initiative.