The Rt Hon Mike Penning, minister responsible for health & safety, joined construction industry leaders this morning in calling for a major step change in safety standards when digging work is carried out.
Mike Penning MP will attend the launch of the ‘Safe Digging is Not Enough’ toolkit, alongside leaders from Kier, Crossrail and Barhale. Together, they have spearheaded the creation of an Underground Utilities Working Group to reduce the number of accidents caused by striking underground utilities and services when digging.
Kier chief executive Paul Sheffield, Crossrail chairman Terry Morgan and Barhale chairman Dennis Curran will be joined by senior representatives from the Health & Safety Executive, who have contributed to the toolkit development.
Aimed at all teams that plan, supervise or deliver activity around underground services, the toolkit outlines the process of designing and planning around live, underground utility services such as gas and electricity by following a process that aims to Eliminate, Reduce, Isolate and Control (ERIC) risk. Its launch is designed to spearhead a new industry-wide drive to reduce utility strikes when digging and the terrible injuries that individuals can sustain.
The toolkit follows the publication earlier this year of the HSE guidance ‘Avoiding Underground Services HSG47’.
Paul Sheffield, chair of the working group, commented: “The injuries caused by the inadvertent striking of underground services and utilities can be devastating, even fatal. Importantly these strikes can be avoided, which is why we are calling on the industry to join us in pursuing a step change in safe digging, supported by the launch of this new toolkit.”
The Safe Digging toolkit was created by the Underground Utilities Working Group, which, in addition to Kier, Crossrail and Barhale, includes representatives from UK Power Networks and National Grid, BAM, Morrison Utilities, Skanska, the UKCG and the Health & Safety Executive.
Over 125 senior construction, utility, transport and client group representatives are expected to attend the launch event. The guidance and materials that make up the Safe Digging toolkit will be freely available to view and download and will be available online from the day of the launch.
