Sector
Power, water, gas and telecoms keep the country running — and they run on some of the highest-consequence work there is. Working at height on towers and substations, live electrical isolation, confined-space entry and lone working across hundreds of dispersed sites. We give utility contractors and asset owners the documentation, competent-person cover and audit support that national frameworks expect.
The landscape
Utilities work sits under the full weight of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 — and then adds layers most sectors never touch: live electrical systems, deep confined spaces, structures hundreds of feet up, and crews working alone in the middle of nowhere. Much of it falls under CDM 2015 too. These are the risks that define the sector, and the regulations that govern every one of them.
Transmission towers, pylons, substation gantries, water towers and telecoms masts demand a strict avoid–prevent–mitigate hierarchy under the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Fall arrest, rescue plans and inspected access equipment have to be right every single time.
Live HV and LV systems are unforgiving. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require safe isolation, proven dead before touch, and a disciplined permit-to-work system with lock-out / tag-out (LOTO) so no one re-energises a circuit while a colleague is on it.
Chambers, valve pits, sewers, tunnels and tanks carry the risk of toxic and flammable atmospheres and oxygen deficiency. The Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 demand a safe system of work, gas monitoring, and tested entry and rescue arrangements before anyone goes in.
Crews maintain assets alone, often at distance and out of signal. MHSWR 1999 requires the risk to be assessed and managed — check-in regimes, lone-worker devices, dynamic risk assessment and a clear escalation route if someone doesn't call in.
MEWPs, cranes, winches and rigging used on towers and at substations must be thorough-examined under LOLER 1998 and maintained under PUWER 1998 — with operators trained and the inspection records complete and current.
Tier-one utility frameworks expect ISO 45001, SSIP accreditation and a demonstrable safety management system. Documentation has to be auditable, version-controlled and ready the moment a client or principal contractor asks to see it.
How we help
Utilities work is spread thin — a tower here, a pumping station there, a substation 80 miles away. Dominic Gibbons CMIOSH gives you a single Chartered competent person who keeps the whole estate consistent: the same permit discipline, the same standard of method statement and the same audit-ready records whether it's job one or job one hundred. The documentation utility clients and frameworks expect, written for the work you actually do.
Task-specific work-at-height method statements and permit-to-work / LOTO systems written to the Work at Height Regs 2005 and Electricity at Work Regs 1989 — and briefed to the crews who use them.
The named, Chartered adviser MHSWR 1999 requires — covering distributed sites, contactable when a job changes, and genuinely on your side.
Qualitative RPE face fit testing under COSHH 2002 for confined-space and dust work, plus framework and ISO 45001 audit support that stands up to client scrutiny.
What's included
From the permit system on a live substation to the audit file a tier-one client asks for, we slot in wherever you need it — take a single piece or hand us the lot.
Permit-to-work and lock-out / tag-out (LOTO) procedures for safe electrical isolation and confined-space entry — designed, documented and embedded so they actually get used.
Task-specific work-at-height and confined-space risk assessments and method statements under the Work at Height Regs 2005, written or reviewed and briefed out to crews.
Your named Chartered competent person across distributed sites — consistent advice and the same standard of control on every job, however far apart they are.
Independent, structured inspections of towers, substations and chambers — under HSG53 principles — with photographic evidence and a prioritised action list you can close out.
Qualitative RPE face fit testing under COSHH 2002 for confined-space, dust and gas work — so tight-fitting masks actually seal and protect the wearer.
Build, support and internally audit an ISO 45001 occupational H&S management system, with the audit evidence national utility frameworks demand.
Root-cause investigation when something goes wrong — RIDDOR 2013 reporting handled and the lessons embedded so it doesn't happen again on the next site.
CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline and Achilles applications and renewals — prepared and evidenced so you pass first time and stay on the tender list.
How it works
No 200-page binder nobody reads. We get under the skin of how your assets and crews actually work, build the controls that fit them, and keep those controls living across every site you run.
We walk your assets — towers, substations, chambers and remote sites — and map the real risks: live isolation, work at height, confined-space entry and lone working across the estate.
We write the permit-to-work and LOTO systems, the WAH and confined-space method statements, and set an inspection and audit regime that meets your framework obligations.
We brief the crews, run scheduled inspections, keep the documents version-controlled and audit-ready, and stay on the phone whenever a job — or an inspector — turns up.
On a live substation, the permit isn't paperwork — it's the thing standing between a colleague and a circuit that's still energised. Get the system right and the compliance follows.Dominic Gibbons, CMIOSH
Related
The regulations, standards and SSIP schemes that shape utilities compliance — and the services that keep you on top of them.
Network to cover?
Whether you need a competent person across distributed sites, a permit system for live isolation, or WAH method statements writing, tell us about your assets and we'll get straight to it.
