04 May 2022
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Countryside Alliance joins digging awareness drive
THE Countryside Alliance has partnered with LSBUD, a UK safe digging resource, to get a better understanding of the digging habits of farm and agricultural workers and is urging growers to help with its research.
"There is a busy network of underground pipes and cables that runs beneath the UK’s agricultural land, ranging from electricity, EV and broadband cables, through to water, gas, chemical and high-pressure fuel pipelines. Accidentally hitting one of these assets can have significant and long-lasting effects on the person involved and those around them. It can lead to serious injuries, and in the most unfortunate cases, fatalities. There is also the added disruption to consider. Entire communities can be cut off from important services, and repair costs can add up to thousands of pounds," the organisation states in its online announcement.
Much digging activity takes place on agricultural land, so the organisation joined LSBUD’s mission to raise awareness for the importance of safe digging.
Richard Broome, MD at LSBUD, said: “We have designed a survey in collaboration with the Countryside Alliance to better understand the digging habits of the UK’s farm and agricultural workers. This will tell us how well the industry is performing in terms of safe digging, and what work still needs to be done to help better protect workers and communities from harm and disruption.”
The survey takes two minutes and the Alliance says it would really value potato growers' input. To start the survey, click here.
