Know What’s Below: Working Together to Keep Landowners Safe
At BPA, safety has always been our highest priority. Across our pipeline network, thousands of landowners, farmers, tenants and contractors live and work above buried pipelines every day. While these pipelines are safely buried underground, it is essential that anyone planning work near them understands where they are located and how to work safely around them.
That is the purpose of BPA’s Know What’s Below campaign.
The campaign runs every year and is designed to raise awareness of BPA’s buried pipeline network and provide practical information on what activities can be safely undertaken and when BPA’s Lands Team should be contacted before work begins. Whether it’s installing fencing, carrying out drainage works, planting trees, excavating foundations or undertaking other ground disturbance activities, early communication helps prevent damage, protects people and ensures work can be completed safely.
The message is straightforward: before carrying out any work near a buried pipeline, contact BPA for advice and guidance.
Every year, BPA writes directly to landowners along its pipeline routes, providing information about the location of pipelines and reminding recipients of the safe working practices that should be followed. The campaign also encourages landowners to keep BPA informed of any changes to ownership, tenancy arrangements or contact details so that important safety information reaches the right people.
To make responding as easy and convenient as possible, BPA has continued to develop a multi-channel approach to communication.
In addition to traditional postal letters, landowners can now respond directly through the Know What’s Below website, providing updated contact information quickly and securely online. BPA also offers the option to respond via SMS, making it even easier for recipients to confirm details and engage with the campaign.
This year, BPA has also trialled the use of email communications, giving landowners the opportunity to receive their annual safety information electronically. This not only provides greater flexibility for recipients but also helps ensure important messages can be delivered more efficiently and accessed whenever needed.
These improvements are helping BPA achieve two important objectives. Firstly, they make it easier for landowners to stay informed about what to do, and what not to do, in the vicinity of buried pipelines. Secondly, they help BPA maintain accurate and up-to-date landowner records, ensuring safety information reaches the correct individuals whenever it is needed.
The success of the Know What’s Below campaign relies on partnership and communication. By working together, BPA and landowners can help prevent accidental damage to pipelines, protect people and the environment, and ensure the continued safe operation of infrastructure that plays an important role in supporting the UK’s energy and fuel networks.
If you receive a Know What’s Below communication from BPA, please take a few moments to review the information and update your details. It is a simple step that helps keep records current, improves communication and, most importantly, helps keep everyone safe.
