The UK’s water industry recorded more than 1 million underground asset searches last year, making it the second biggest contributor to the UK’s safe digging industry.
It currently accounts for 27.5% of the 3.9 million LSBUD searches made across the UK, placing a search every 6.9 seconds during the average working day, according to Digging up Britain 2025.
The sector comes second to telecoms, which placed 1.4 million searches.
The LSBUD annual report analyses digging activity across the country. It found that workers are now much more aware of the need to pre-plan and check what’s in the ground before digging.
Planned works accounted for 78% of all enquiries submitted – the highest proportion since records began.
Richard Broome, of LSBUD, said: “It is great to see that for another year running, the water sector has solidified itself as the second most active industry when it comes to searching before digging.”
Last year also marked a record number of companies voluntarily sharing their asset information to protect their pipes and cables, with nine new asset owners joining LSBUD’s member list, ensuring over 2 million kilometres of underground pipes and cables are protected.
However, also according to the report, the water sector ranks the worst when it comes to sharing its data, with only 20% of water companies protecting their assets through LSBUD’s central system.
“There is no doubt that the water industry is committed to the safety of its workers,” Richard added. “Stringent measures, protocols, and policies are in place to ensure that on-site teams are safeguarded against risks when working on critical infrastructure projects.
“However, the industry is also facing a safety epidemic with conflicted best practices. When it comes to protecting their own vast network of underground infrastructure, water companies fall short.
“Our aim, and hope, is that the water sector continues to look for ways to improve, ensuring that both its people and pipelines remain protected, futureproofing the industry.”
