WorkSafe’s road cone hotline closes Friday, December 19, after six months of reports and site checks.

The pilot is wrapping up ahead of schedule to line up with NZTA’s requirement that councils have a plan to apply new risk-based temporary traffic management guidelines to local roadworks contracts before projects get government funding approved.

“This pilot has done exactly what we needed it to do,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden.

“We now understand what's really causing the excessive use of road cones, and changing to a risk-based approach is key to resolving these issues.”

When the public saw what looked like excessive cones, site visits found councils had usually signed off the setup.

WorkSafe says 86% of sites were compliant with the number of cones and other devices in council-approved traffic management plans.

The problem flagged by the pilot is that councils across New Zealand were not required to apply NZTA’s most recent guidance, so a council-approved plan can still feel excessive on the ground.

NZTA has said all councils must be fully compliant with the new guidance by Tuesday, July 1, 2027.

WorkSafe inspectors have been trained in temporary traffic management and will keep applying the guidance in business-as-usual checks, as part of a wider culture change programme.

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