BTS Underground Health and Safety Course

This year the event takes place on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 November.

The Health & Safety Course is organised and run by the British Tunnelling Society (BTS), an Associated Society of the Institution of Civil Engineers. The purpose of the course is to provide a comprehensive introduction to Health & Safety in tunnelling.

The course has been developed to focus exclusively on the underground environment. It aims to provide an introduction or enhance existing basic knowledge and develop an awareness of the particular health and safety challenges that working underground can pose.

A spokesperson for the BTS said: “Following the success of the Underground Health & Safety Course over past years it has been decided to repeat the two-day format of the last seven years to allow more time on specific subjects and include more discussion and debate.”

Online booking is available on the BTS website: www.britishtunnelling.org.uk

Fees: GBP 170 for non-BTS members and GBP 130 for members

The preliminary schedule is as follows:

DAY 1 - Underground Risks

• Ground risks & how mitigated
• Health & Welfare for underground workers –noise, dust, heat, pollution, harmful gases
• Occupational Health programmes –Emergency Response
• Compressed Air Usage
• Underground Safety Passports, Competence, NVQs
• Debate - tba

DAY 2 - Underground Safety

• Safety Management & Maintenance aspects of the use of Underground Machinery – incl. TBM, Loco, Rolling stock, Conveyors
• Electrical Safety - supply systems, management, safe usage
• CDM Regulations as applied to design & construction of Underground work.
• Use of Explosives underground
• Joint Code of Risk Management for underground works
• Safety Management & Leadership programmes
• Environmental Impacts/Sustainability issues
• Course review & candidates assessment