Added value to health and safety risk assessment through automation, data mining, and digital transformation

Yorkshire Water – Digital DSEAR

Regulatory requirements mean that water companies need to assess the risk of flammable or explosive substances entering their assets. With over 8,000 network assets, this presented a logistical and financial challenge to Yorkshire Water, who in an effort to ensure they met legal obligations, blanket-zoned all assets as at risk. This meant that each asset in their portfolio needed to be surveyed and maintained on a three-year cycle.

In order to better understand the septicity risk their catchment assets, Yorkshire Water brought us in to employ our DSEAR Analyser. This tool collated the required information at an individual catchment level, then we fed the risk directly into individual asset assessment models - removing the necessity for cost—and time-inefficient site visits.

Once the possibility of upstream risk was removed, the number of assets requiring assessment was significantly reduced—we declassified 80% of Yorkshire Water’s catchment assets, which provided cost savings for the equipment installed within the catchment asset and the associated electrical installation. It also reduced the number of sites that required more detailed investigation and identified the nature of actual risk so that investment could be prioritised. 

Now, with our DSEAR Analyser, assessments can be speedily updated on a regular basis should the catchment area’s characteristics change. This up-to-date DSEAR classification ensures a continued focus on health, safety, and wellbeing on each and every site.