Contractors and developers were responsible for more than a quarter (26%) of all incidents where workers were digging too close to high-pressure oil, gas and chemical pipelines.
That’s according to pipeline safety and awareness group Linewatch, which has examined the 314 incidents reported to it in 2021. Contractors and developers caused 81 of them.
The proportion of incidents caused by contractors has remained static for a second year.
Type of infringements
An infringement can be someone working near a pipeline without the owner’s awareness, through to a worker striking a pipe.
In terms of severity, of all incidents recorded, 11 were in the ‘high’ category. This refers to works that had potential to cause serious damage. This was an increase on the previous year, but was partly a result of more members reporting. ‘Medium’ and ‘low’ risk incidents also increased in 2021.
The Linewatch 2021 Infringement Report suggested that 30% of infringements occurred even though the person responsible was already aware of the pipeline.
Risks
Murray Peat, manager at Linewatch, said: “Pipelines can be as little as three feet below the surface. That is about the length of a cricket bat. If struck, they can cause serious injuries and fatalities, as well as irreversible environmental damage with commensurate fines. The potential risk cannot be overestimated. Which is why the proper process of searching with LSBUD [LinesearchbeforeUdig] before digging and of course, alerting the pipeline operator, should be followed every time.
“Historically, construction workers and contractors have been some of the worst offenders for damaging, or operating too close to the UK’s underground network of high pressure oil, gas and chemical pipelines. For this reason, it is pleasing to see that our work with businesses and workers within the sector has caused infringements to plateau. There is still work to do, but the numbers are heading in the right direction.”
Full report
As well as producing the Infringement Report, and promoting the awareness of safe digging, Linewatch advises those involved in digging works across the UK. During 2021, Linewatch delivered 117 free Safety Awareness Briefings to organisations around the UK. It produced several new educational videos to highlight best practice when planning and undertaking works around pipelines alongside an eLearning module created in collaboration with LSBUD, titled ‘An introduction to Safe Digging’.
To download the full 2021 Infringement Report, visit the Linewatch website.
