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The Health and Safety Authority has developed a draft Code of Practice entitled "Code of Practice for Avoiding Danger from Underground Services", which is intended for publication in accordance with section 60 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (No. 10 of 2005).

The aim of the draft Code of Practice is to provide practical guidance as to the observance of Part 5 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 504 of 2006) which, inter alia, require that adequate precautions are taken in any excavation, shaft, earthwork, underground works or tunnel to avoid risk to persons at work arising from possible underground dangers such as underground cables or other distribution systems, the circulation of fluids or the presence of pockets of gas, by undertaking appropriate investigations to locate them before excavation begins.

The draft Code of Practice also provides practical guidance as to the observance of Sections 19 and 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 in respect of relevant excavation work.

The aim of the draft Code of Practice is to improve the level of safety with which excavation work is carried out. In particular, it aims to reduce the incidence of damage to underground services and in doing so to minimise risk to personnel who are involved in carrying out this work.

This draft Code of Practice is intended to replace the Code of Practice entitled “Code of Practice for Avoiding Danger from Underground Services” which was issued by the Authority in February 2005 in accordance with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989.” which was issued by the Authority in February 2005 in accordance with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989.

The text of the draft Code of Practice can be accessed here.

The Health and Safety Authority requests comments and observations (by 5.00 p.m. on Monday 30 March 2009 on the draft Code of Practice prior to submission of the proposals to the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (Mr Billy Kelleher) for his consideration and consent to its publication.

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