A risk based approach to highway safety inspections
The highway safety inspection process is an important part of the management of highway infrastructure assets, specifically ensuring that the highway network remains safe and resilient. The Highway Safety Inspection Manual 2024 sets out the highway safety inspection process in Torbay. The core purpose of this manual is to set out the policy framework for the reasonable system of inspection and repair that will be operated by Torbay Council and SWISCo.
To ensure that the system of inspection and repair operated across Torbay is reasonable, the Council’s approach adopts nationally recognised best practice. The development of this manual has considered the recommendations of Well Managed Highway Infrastructure: A Code of Practice, October 2016 (the ‘Code of Practice’). For the avoidance of doubt, wherever this manual differs from the Code of Practice, then this Manual shall be taken as Torbay Council’s intended approach to highway safety inspection.
Highway safety inspections aim to identify all defects likely to create danger or serious inconvenience to users of the highway network at the time of inspection. The assessed risk to highway users is then used to establish a response time and inform the subsequent repair of all defects identified by Highway Inspectors. The approach taken to the repair of highway safety defects will follow the principles of Torbay Council’s Highway Infrastructure Asset Management Plan.