The recent and successful prosecution of a contractor under the Corporate Manslaughter Act this year means that fellow contractors should make every conscious effort to avoid foreseeable and unforeseeable health and safety risks to avoid prosecution of negligence themselves.
Cardno TBE, which uses the proven SUE process to accurately detect and map underground utilities, is helping project owners, designers and contractors to protect themselves from the severe risk of ‘disrupting underground services’.
This disruption of underground services was recently deemed as a ‘catastrophic event’ by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in its 2011 report, Preventing Catastrophic Events in Construction. In an online survey conducted as part of the report, respondents believed that ‘Drawings not clear, significant risks not apparent or highlighted’ was classed as the 12th biggest risk to catastrophic events and a ‘Lack of involvement on site by designers’ was 5th out of 23 options.
To avoid such disruption and the risks of striking in-use known and unknown utility infrastructures, severe injury or even death, it is important for contractors to obtain certified underground utility survey which is both accurate and indemnified.
James Lewis, branch manager for Cardno TBE UK commented: “The Corporate Manslaughter Act is about health and safety failings by directors and their companies. They can no longer deal with situations as they arise, but they must plan ahead to avoid foreseeable and unforeseeable risk both for everyday occurrences and those deemed as catastrophic.
“Overlooking the benefits of obtaining a comprehensive, accurate and indemnified underground utility survey is a false economy, as the industry has seen at first-hand how the Corporate Manslaughter Act can ruin business and reputation.
“Think smart and be safe by letting us help you with our proven professional SUE services for ultimate peace of mind.”
SUE is a relatively new process that incorporates civil engineering, surface geophysics, surveying and mapping, non-destructive vacuum excavation, and asset management technologies to locate, identify, and classify underground utilities. SUE has proven to help manage risks, avoid costly conflicts and reduce project delays.
It differs from current UK procedure as it provides project owners, engineers and contractors with accurate and certified findings, which then reduces health and safety risk and unnecessary costs during the construction process.
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