LinesearchbeforeUdig (LSBUD) Digging Up Britain Report
The UK’s Safe Digging Community Has Never Been Stronger
Digging up Britain 2024, the UK’s safe digging industry report, is back for its seventh edition, documenting the latest trends, hot topics and data from all the groundwork taking place across the UK last year.
This must-read and powerful document has been designed to help all those engaged in excavation work learn more about the risks and then reduce utility strikes.
With greater awareness around digging safety than ever before, it’s reassuring to see that 2023 was the safest year on record for the digging community, achieving the highest number of underground asset searches ever with 3.92 million searches conducted across the year.
Indeed, when these numbers are compared to those of just five years ago, the portal is receiving 52% more search enquiries, which shows that LSBUD’S ongoing programme of promotion and education on the need for a search before you dig is resulting in an increasingly joined up, collaborative way of working.
The report reiterates the ‘safe digging for all’ message, and highlights who was digging, where they were digging and why they were digging.
Finally, the report continues to remind those remaining network operators of the benefit of sharing their data, and those doing the digging that the more people that search, the safer we stay as a nation.
Click now to get your FREE copy for Digging up Britain 2024
“Particularly during the challenges that we have all faced over the last 18 months, it is critical that we can ensure our customers and contractors are able to access our records remotely with an immediate response. This enables them to work safely and also protects our assets. These customers are diverse and wide ranging across a wide section of industry from infrastructure building to domestic works. Through the use of the LSBUD system we look forward to helping them work safely during the continual increase in works across our operational area over the coming years”
Steve Fraser
Chief Executive
“The 2021 LSBUD Digging Up Britain Report is a must-read and powerful insight for all utilities and contractors engaged in any kind of excavation work for street and road works. It is good to see that LSBUD goes from strength-to-strength in its coverage of almost 100 asset owners. The report complements well Streetworks UK’s own survey work in 2020 around excavation working practice, and further reinforces the need to share information on LSBUD’s world class platform.
Mind you, we should be concerned that 500 000km of underground assets remain unregistered, particularly when the infrastructure boom – so neatly described in this Report – is now breaking over us. The Geospatial Commission leadership would do well to read this report closely, and ensure its forthcoming work is additive to existing systems.”
Chief Executive
“While most of the gas network is underground and out of sight, it plays a central role in the daily lives of people across Wales and south west England. From heating homes and powering businesses, to keeping the lights on, 7.5m people rely on our network – now more than ever. We’re committed to protecting the gas network to keep the gas flowing safely. So we’re pleased to be working with LSBUD to enhance the support we can provide groundworkers and civils contractors, helping them and others easily access our plans at the same time as they search for other services in the area.”
Graham Edwards
Chief Executive
