Conclusion
In parallel with the consultation, discussions on Vault considerations were held with the PDG.
Depth which came out very strongly in the consultation and with the focus group, was discussed. The group members raised concerns over this attribute being mandated as currently it is not something that commonly captured by the industry. Additionally, there has never been a prescribed depth before, only industry guidance.
As such a stage approached will be proposed in relation to depth, which will allow the industry to develop procedures for capturing the required data and put them into common practice. The first stage will require asset owners to choose from a standard engineering list of assumed locations and advise if it will be found in that arrangement or not. The second stage will be to provide a band of ranges to select from and then finally it will be the how deep the asset is in mm from the surface of the road.
Another concern was around the liability for the damage that is caused to assets. The Vault legislation is around duty to supply and level of information to provide to protect assets. Vault is not replacement for safe digging techniques, and these should continue to be used. As Vault is intended to compliment a range of site-based safety measures and not replace them, a long-term view of quality with a 500mm accuracy requirement will form part of future policy considerations in this area.
The findings from the consultation, direct engagement with our road worker focus group, and the PDG show there are seven key attributes that would road workers and asset owners should benefit from being recorded. These are:
- Ownership
- Asset Type (e.g. cabinet, pipe, duct etc)
- Voltage/Pressure etc.
- Depth
- Location (line on map)
- Position in road
- Position of asset when in another asset
In addition, we anticipate additional fields being supplied on a voluntary basis as is currently the case, and we will seek to require that bodies provide any additional information their organisation feels essential to include for the purposes of working safely around their asset.