Colas and Highway Service are beaming a clear red danger zone around their biggest machines.

The red beam is a visible warning to operatives that they are in the danger area if they are inside the red line.

Colas said other contractors are now showing interest in adopting the system.

Carl Fergusson, CEO at Colas UK said: “Our approach at Colas is to inspire, pioneer and freely share improvements to safety.

“We are keen to foster relationships with other expert UK businesses which create innovative solutions which will be good for the whole industry – not just ourselves.

“We want to share this technology and are already sign-posting other firms to the developers, Highway Service.”

Working with Colas operational teams, Highway Service took existing technology and developed it to create an unmistakable LED-lit red zone around the Colas construction machines.

Throwing a light cordon around pavers and rollers leaves Colas staff in no doubt where workers and vehicles should be – and where they should not venture.

The system uses LED lights located on top of the machine or on the canopy. At night, these throw a clear red box around the vehicle, marking out a solid red line around the sides of the machine to a standard distance of two metres.

This can be extended to match the size of the paving activity at the rear of the machine with a five metre clearance at the back in the case of pavers.

The system also includes blue arrow lights, which make clear to the roller drivers the extent of the exclusion zone at the rear of the paver.

Lee Corbett of Highway Service said: “We have been delighted to work closely with Colas on this project and we are really pleased with the results.”

Fergusson added: “This type of knowledge transfer and collaboration in our industry is a strong example of the new direction of Colas in the UK, underpinned by our commitment to a safe, quality operational environment for our workforce.”