Telecoms and digital infrastructure provider Svella Connect has reinforced its commitment to safe working practices by joining forces with more than 400 members of the UK utilities industry to ensure the highest standards of safety and best practice when carrying out work to connect residential and business services.
By becoming a member of the Utility Strike Avoidance Group (USAG), the company will collaborate with other utility asset owners, industry groups and contractors to help prevent disruption and injury caused by accidental strikes on utilities in the ground.
This includes sharing ideas on such potentially hazardous operations as digging around underground services and training on utility detection equipment such as cable avoidance tools.
As a signatory to the group charter, Svella Connect will ensure its workforce is competent, equipped with suitable PPE, has equipment for the detection and avoidance of utility services and carries out excavations in accordance with safe systems of work, company and USAG/HSE guidance.
Stephen Woolf, Svella Connect Safety and Risk Director, said: “As a key provider of telecoms projects across Yorkshire, the Midlands and the North West, Svella Connect aspires to operate to the highest levels of safety and efficiency – and that means collaborating with our sector peers to share good practice.
“The Utility Strike Avoidance Group provides an opportunity for the industry to share ideas, experiences and working practises for the benefit of all consumers, and we are delighted to add our name to its growing roster of leading utilities operators.
“We’re in the business of providing access to vital high-speed broadband that homes and businesses rely upon and, as we continue to grow our business by working with some of the UK’s leading providers, we know it’s critical to keep these essential services free of preventable disruption.
“We also understand the importance of ensuring the safety of all our workforce when operating in potentially hazardous situations and complying fully with all the latest industry regulations and guidance.”
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