Banksman vs Traffic Marshal: What's the Difference?

On most UK sites, banksman and traffic marshal are two names for the same job. HSE says banksmen are "often called traffic marshals". Under either title, you guide lorries, dumpers and plant through moves the driver can't see, and keep people on foot clear. A few sites use the titles for different parts of the traffic job. The role that does differ is the slinger signaller, who works on crane lifts.

So the word on an advert matters less than what it asks you to direct. Vehicles and plant are one job under either name. Crane lifts are another, with their own training.

What is a banksman?

HSE's banksmen and signallers page defines the job in one line. "Banksmen are operatives trained to direct vehicle movement on or around site."

HSE's construction vehicle guide, HSG144, works the other way round. Its glossary defines a signaller as "a person who directs traffic movements, commonly known as a banksman".

Mining law used the word decades before HSG144 first appeared in 1998. A 1956 coal mines order said no one could enter a cage at the top of a shaft, or in it, unless the banksman or an onsetter authorised it.

CDM 2015 skips the title. Under regulation 28, the duty to warn people at risk can fall on "the person providing directions" to a driver without full visibility. If you're guiding, that can be you, whatever the site calls you.

Banksman vs traffic marshal: where the words overlap and where they split

	Banksman	Traffic marshal
What HSE says	Trained to direct vehicle movement on or around site	"Often called traffic marshals"
Typical duties	Keep pedestrians away, stand somewhere safe, stop the vehicle if you and the driver can't see each other	The same
Directing crane lifts	Not part of HSE's definition. HSE calls the person directing crane drivers a signaller	Not part of it either
Hand signals	The coded set in the 1996 signals regulations	The same set

Sources: HSE and the 1996 signals regulations, accurate as of October 2026.

Unless the advert mentions cranes or lifting, read banksman and traffic marshal as the same job.

The word to watch is signaller. HSG144 uses it for the person directing vehicles. HSE's banksmen page uses it for someone else, saying "Signallers are operatives who are trained to direct crane drivers during lifting operations." If an advert says signaller, ask whether it means vehicles or lifts.

Vehicle marshal, signaller, slinger signaller: other names on site

• Vehicle banksman or vehicle marshal: guides lorries, vans and dumpers as they reverse and manoeuvre. More in vehicle banksman training.
• Excavator banksman: HSG144 says a signaller should stand in a safe position to direct the excavator and any people on foot nearby. See excavator banksman training.
• Plant and vehicle marshaller: HSE's traffic management guidance uses this for people trained and appointed to control manoeuvres.
• Signaller: either job, depending on who's using the word.
• Slinger signaller: attaches loads to a crane and directs the lift. HSE says anyone slinging loads or directing lifts must be trained and competent. The online slinger signaller awareness course covers the basics.

Banksman hand signals: the official set and where to find it

In Great Britain, the signals are set out in Schedule 1, Part IX of the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996. Where a risk assessment shows signals are needed, regulation 4 says the employer must make sure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that they're used. The schedule calls the person giving them the signalman, and lists 14.

Signal	How you give it, in the schedule's words
Start (attention, start of command)	Both arms are extended horizontally with the palms facing forwards
Stop (interruption, end of movement)	The right arm points upwards with the palm facing forwards
End (of the operation)	Both hands are clasped at chest height
Raise	The right arm points upwards with the palm facing forward and slowly makes a circle
Lower	The right arm points downwards with the palm facing inwards and slowly makes a circle
Vertical distance	The hands indicate the relevant distance
Move forwards	Both arms are bent with the palms facing upwards and the forearms make slow movements towards the body
Move backwards	Both arms are bent with the palms facing downwards and the forearms make slow movements away from the body
Right (to the signalman)	The right arm is extended more or less horizontally with the palm facing downwards and slowly makes small movements to the right
Left (to the signalman)	The left arm is extended more or less horizontally with the palm facing downwards and slowly makes small movements to the left
Horizontal distance	The hands indicate the relevant distance
Danger (emergency stop)	Both arms point upwards with the palms facing forwards
Quick	All movements faster
Slow	All movements slower

Source: Schedule 1, Part IX of the Regulations, as printed in HSE's L64, accurate as of October 2026.

Right and left mean the signaller's right and left. If you're facing the driver, your right is their left, so agree it before the first move.

The Regulations allow some alternative codes, such as the British Standard for cranes. HSE says to use one code across a workplace and retrain new starters who learned another. The signaller wears something distinctive and brightly coloured, such as a jacket, helmet or armbands. A driver who can't safely follow an instruction stops and asks for a new one.

To see every signal drawn, use HSE's free guidance on the Regulations, L64. In the 2015 third edition, Part IX runs from page 41 to 43, with a drawing of each signal on pages 42 and 43.

Banksman or traffic marshal on the advert: what the site will ask for

The title won't tell you which ticket a site wants. HSE says banksmen can be used for reversing "only if trained and authorised", and only where other controls aren't possible. Its reversing page, dated May 2021, says nearly a quarter of workplace transport deaths happen during reversing, so its first step is designing reversing out with one-way systems.

A site that still uses a banksman will want proof you're trained. On any advert, check whether it means vehicles or lifts, and whether it's a construction site, warehouse or event. The traffic marshal and banksman guide sets out which tickets sites accept and what the job pays.

Getting trained as a banksman or traffic marshal

Our online traffic marshal and banksman course covers both titles. It teaches guiding vehicles and machinery, the hand signals from the 1996 Regulations, traffic risk assessment and health and safety law. It ends with a CPD-accredited certificate. It isn't a scheme card, so check what your site accepts first. Other site training is listed under construction courses.

Frequently asked questions