A self assessment can be initiated and led by either the State Department of Transportation (SDOT), FHWA Division Office, or other safety partners, as appropriate. A self assessment is most beneficial if conducted as a partnership among stakeholders, as self assessment requires a collaborative effort. The timeframe and frequency for conducting a self assessment is at the discretion of the agency. Typically, self assessments are conducted annually, or every other year, to measure progress in implementing program improvements.

2.1 Self Assessment Participants

The HSIP Self Assessment Tool is intended to be a group exercise and, as such, should be conducted with as many transportation safety stakeholder representatives as possible. Those involved in the assessment should represent every aspect of the HSIP, including HSIP Champions, HSIP Administrators, HSIP Managers, Planners, and others involved in project programming (e.g., District Traffic and/or Planning staff, local public agencies). A meeting facilitator should be identified who is familiar with the HSIP Self Assessment Tool and experienced with the HSIP. This could be an outside facilitator, but in many cases it will likely be the FHWA Division Safety Specialist or State DOT Safety Engineer.

It is important that the facilitator approach the exercise with an open mind. He or she should have excellent listening skills to clearly understand and appreciate group discussions and to be able to accurately capture key points. The facilitator will be responsible for guiding the group through the self assessment by: developing and maintaining a meeting agenda; structuring and encouraging participation; and, recording results on the scoring template provided in Appendix A. An effective facilitator:²

• Challenges thinking;
• Helps the group create lists of important points;
• Summarizes the issues throughout the meeting;
• Shares ideas when they can help the meeting progress;
• Provides handouts when needed to clarify the main points;
• Raises questions to bring out different viewpoints;
• Guides discussion, but does not lead it;
• Restates ideas when the person presenting them is not clear; and
• Provides constructive criticism when, for example, a person or people attempt to dominate the meeting.

2.2 Self Assessment Preparation

In advance of the assessment discussion, this Guide and the scoring template should be provided to each invited participant. Each participant should be asked to read the Guide, consider the questions, and score each based on their perception regarding the level of adoption by the agency. Participants are encouraged to bring their score sheets and the Guide to the assessment group discussion for reference. The time to conduct the assessment discussion can vary depending on the number of participants and their previous experience in conducting the group discussion. For the initial group discussion, it is suggested that approximately three hours be scheduled to complete the self assessment group discussion.

2.3 Self Assessment Format

After the welcome and introductions, it is recommended that the assessment facilitator describe each of the five primary self assessment areas: Leadership, Administration, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation - before proceeding to the actual assessment questions. The facilitator should briefly review the scoring scale and methodology, and then encourage open discussion on each assessment question to identify at what level this activity or process is being accomplished. Due to the complexity of operational, economical, and political issues that can impact the response to any of the assessment items, the facilitator should emphasize that "one size does not fit all conditions," and encourage the group to be aware of the constraints that transportation agencies have in each of the topic item areas.

In summary, to carry out the self-assessment group discussion:

• Identify a meeting facilitator;
• Assemble a team of participants that is fully versed in the HSIP;
• Provide background information that the team can reference during review (e.g., FHWA HSIP Manual,³ State HSIP, and SHSP);
• Provide participants with the assessment Guide and score sheet to complete in advance of the meeting;
• Ask the participants to submit their responses to the facilitator prior to the meeting. Participants should also bring their completed score sheets and Guide with them to the assessment exercise;
• Summarize each of the participant's scores on a single sheet and distribute the summary sheet to the group. This will provide each participant with a means to quickly review all scores recorded by others.
• Encourage open discussion about each topic area to better understand the participants' responses;
• Discuss the final score in each topic section and collect information on any practices, policies, and procedures that are being done and that are proving successful. The discussion should also address what could be done to improve the score.

2.4 Applying the Results

The first applications of the tool results in a baseline - this baseline can be applied to: 1) identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement; and 2) monitor progress over time by comparing HSIP Self Assessment results against the baseline. Among other things, the Self Assessment Tool can be used to:

• Benchmark and track progress towards improving the effectiveness of the HSIP over the long term;
• Raise the level of awareness of HSIP-related practices and strategies;
• Identify gaps in existing HSIP efforts; and
• Generate strategies to improve HSIP-related practices.