National Highway Sector Schemes
INDUSTRY STANDARDS
Quality Standards for the Highways Industry
National Highway Sector Schemes (NHSS) are bespoke quality management schemes developed for organisations working within specific areas of the UK highways industry.
Built around the ISO 9001 quality management framework, each Sector Scheme introduces requirements relevant to a particular highway activity, including standards relating to organisational processes, competence, training and the delivery of work.
Within temporary traffic management, the Scheme 12 family provides dedicated requirements covering different types of roads and traffic management operations.
TEMPORARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
Understanding Scheme 12
Scheme 12 covers key areas of temporary traffic management, with different schemes applying according to the road environment and the type of traffic-management operation being undertaken.
HIGH-SPEED STATIC TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
NHSS 12A/B
Static temporary traffic management on motorways and
high-speed dual carriageways.
12A/B covers the installation, maintenance and removal of static temporary traffic management on motorways and high-speed dual carriageways, with the distinction including schemes involving contraflow operations and/or temporary road markings.
MOBILE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
NHSS 12C
Mobile lane closure temporary traffic management on motorways and other dual carriageways.
NHSS 12C relates specifically to mobile lane closure operations rather than conventional static closures. It covers the specialist personnel and operations associated with carrying out mobile lane closures on motorways and other dual carriageways. Lantra’s current training structure includes both 12C Operative and 12C Supervisor routes.
RURAL & URBAN ROADS
NHSS 12D
Temporary traffic management on rural and urban roads.
NHSS 12D covers the installation, maintenance and removal of temporary traffic management on rural and urban roads. Its scope encompasses a wide variety of temporary traffic-management activities. Current Lantra training material for the scheme includes areas such as signing, cones and tapers, pedestrian provision, portable signals, Stop/Go operations, road closures, diversions, convoy systems, site maintenance and low-speed dual carriageway arrangements.
WHY THE SCHEMES MATTER
Supporting Quality, Safety & Competence
National Highway Sector Schemes provide a structured industry framework for organisations carrying out specialist highway activities. For temporary traffic management, Scheme 12 establishes requirements relating to quality management, organisational processes and the training and competence of personnel involved in relevant traffic-management activities. The wider NHSS framework is designed to provide an industry benchmark, ensure processes are planned, provide a basis for continuous improvement and maintain a focus on quality.