#InjuryPrevention
Peter Ashcroft
Managing Director at Sygma Solutions Ltd, Director Sygma Detection Ltd Director Canary Detect S.L Charity Trustee One House Community Centre Joint Chair El Atico De Abuela Lanzarote (Charity Shop Helping Those in Need)
#injuryprevention
Over the last 12 months I have seen many posts and comments talking about #damageprevention in relation to underground utilities.
I very rarely see any on #injuryprevention.
I worry that we lose sight of the most important reason for avoiding striking utilities, and this is to prevent the worker being killed or injured.
Utility companies across the UK have laid cables at inappropriate depths, cables looped and coiled, encased in concrete and they have a history of providing poor quality plans and information.
These are the companies who have put these unexploded bombs in public footpaths and highways in the full knowledge that someone in the future is going to be excavating on them. They now jump up and down shouting about damage prevention to their network.
I am pretty sure if I left something dangerous in a public footpath that caused injury it would be me as the person putting it there that got the blame and not the person who injured themselves on it!
I heard an argument earlier this year that it is the historic mess that causes these problems, however in my experience the new laid network is often worse in terms of depth of cover.
I am not here to bash all utility companies, as by reducing damage we do reduce risk of injury but I do fear we are not putting enough emphasis on injury to the worker and I still personally think some utility companies are not doing enough, but as these companies are often the clients and handing out the work this remains unsaid.
The priority when it comes to excavating around utilities should be safety of the workforce, we can repair a damaged utility a lot easier than a severely burned worker! #injuryprevention
Owner and Utility Surveyor at Location Surveys Ltd
5 年Completely agree, the #damageprevention is a secondary benefit along with the other many others.? Was recently speaking with someone in water main rehab recently who cut through an electric house supply with a Stihl saw in the footway. Fortunately there wasn't a flash and he didn't even realise it had happened until the next day. He went home that evening before it was even broken out, the customer returned from work to find they didn't have electricity. Unfortunately for him, the cable was repaired, lowered while he was sleeping and he was subsequently charged for the damage. Someone had initially laid that service less than 100mm below the top of asphalt, it was a miracle that no one was hurt, to then have to pay for the repair is scandalous.
Managing Director of LSBUD (Linesearch BeforeUdig) & Partner at Fisher German LLP
5 年Pete, fully agree that injury to people is the fundamental driver we have in helping people work safely. We mainly use #damageprevention as it is a good way to get a consistent message out both nationally and internationally. Consistent messages help a message spread further and reach those most at risk. That doesn’t mean that we are only interested in the assets, it is just that if damage to the asset can be avoided, a resulting injury will be prevented. It also means preventing disruption, delays, costs, outages for customers (including vulnerable customers and those that depend on the networks) and all the other negative things that happen as a result of damage to an asset. All for promoting #injuryprevention but thought it was worth providing some context as to why it all starts with the damage.
Owner of Saxon Management Services
5 年Well put Peter we see this all the time!
?Helping Bring Your People Home Safely? Excavation Safety?Award Winning?Nationwide Locations?On-site?Safe Digging?Locate Utility Services?Confined Spaces?Fusion Welding?Construction?Utilities?Civils?Fusion Welding
5 年Well stated Peter Ashcroft. Not to mention the blame game that quickly starts upon a strike, especially if there is injury. Inevitably there is a rush to check on any training certification.