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Colin Barden is Head of Quality of Supply at UK Power Networks, he spoke to me about how bringing together Britain’s biggest electricity network operator and 999 responders, with a focus on network resilience and public safety, allows them to support the crucial role of emergency responders.
He says that UK Power Networks works regularly as part of business as usual activity with police, fire and ambulance and the wider local resilience forums. Although most of UK Power Networks’ work is with fire and police – and in the case of the former, it is about making locations safe so that the frontline can do their job in an emergency.
UK Power Networks is one of the Distribution Network Operators (DNO) serving London, the south east and east of England. It is a category 2 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. The Local Resilience Forum meetings allow UK Power Networks to build relationships and understand the nature of the wider partnerships in each area. Colin chairs one of the category 2 responder groups in the south of England and he says that meeting regularly is a vital part of how UK Power Networks plans, prepares and considers risks well ahead of incidents taking place.
Risk changes over time and Colin says that the learning from incidents sees continual improvement in response by all partners but proactive communications is also vital.
Earlier in the summer, UK Power Networks led an Emergency Services Awareness Day at the UK Power Networks training centre in Sundridge, Kent, with a focus on network resilience and public safety. Nine services, including the Met and London Ambulance Service came together to delve into the detail of the operation of the power network.
During the event, representatives from the nine services used the latest technology to take a virtual tour of a substation and UK Power Networks shared plans to pilot QR codes enabling first responders to easily access site safety documents. Apprentices demonstrated network procedures, including de-energising overhead power lines, connecting underground cables and working in substations.
Colin said that the awareness day was a great opportunity to deepen their relationships with the blue lights. He told me that on a day to day basis, UK Power Networks works to reduce the burden on the emergency services and described a system of damage assessment teams called ‘scouts’, dispatched after storms, that help to relieve the pressure on emergency services when 999 call handlers are receiving many calls from the public.
“We dispatch scouts immediately to a site to make it safe and release fire appliances to deal with other emergencies. Everyone in UK Power Networks has a storm role and a scout is one such role, dispatched to site, do an assessment and make it safe.”
UK Power Networks’ systems will tell operators when there is a power cut in an area so that they can be well ahead of the game before the public call 999. And where that happens, emergency service control rooms can contact UK Power Networks direct sharing information they have received. The idea of the scouts is to make the network safe following storm damage, freeing up vital emergency service resources where appropriate.
The relationship between the fire and rescue service is set out in memorandums of understandings – MOU – with individual fire services. I asked Colin if there was a national approach via the National Fire Chiefs Council and it seems not; it feels like an area that needs a national approach or at least something akin to the primary authority scheme operating with commercial organisations for fire safety inspections.
Running test exercises is another good way to get people together and consolidate relationships between partners, says Colin.
“We carry out exercises jointly on a regular basis, around flooding and major power outages. We have an emergency flood barrier system and to run it, we need the assistance of the fire and rescue service with their high-volume pumps. We’ve carried out a number of exercises with them to deploy the barrier around one of our substations and show firefighters what it looks like, how it works and to see the dangers they need think about with live electricity.”
How does UK Power Networks take the learning from the many LRFs in its area? Colin explains that in the UK Power Networks’ control team they have someone who has responsibility for emergency planning and they capture and apply that learning across the business. “We have a consistent group of people who deal with LRFs meaning we can pool that information, review it and pull out a common response from UK Power Networks. If there is something we need to do, we can then put it into place.”
He adds that UK Power Networks has a head of organisational resilience and she reports directly to the director of network operations providing an important clear line of sight to the top of the organisation and reflecting the importance it places on being prepared for diverse eventualities. With the publication of the Resilience Action Plan earlier this year, there is plenty for Cat 2 responders like UK Power Networks to be thinking about at all levels of the organisation.
UK Power Networks delivers electricity supplies to 20 million people across London, the South East and East of England. Five other companies serve other parts of the UK – to find out which local electricity network operates in your area, check out Power Cut 105.
Read more – Heathrow closure tests resilience arrangements after fire wipes out substation.
