The Challenge
LSBUD is a central portal which contractors and the public can use to check what assets might exist in a particular spot before they dig.
LSBUD wanted to encourage more energy companies and other utility providers to register their underground assets on the portal and to educate those digging – be they construction companies, farmers or homeowners – to use it.
How We Helped
LSBUD has a huge amount of search data going through its portal. Records of the numbers of searches, where they are, the sort of construction projects they relate to and who the work is being done on behalf of. In 2021 we harnessed this data to create the ‘Digging Up Britain’ report which looks at the sheer scale of excavation work taking place in the UK. The report was downloadable from the LSBUD website.
We launched it to the media, prolonging the campaign with a raft of creative social media activity and in-depth features in key media.
Every part of the activity had a call to action that urged utility companies to make their asset information available on the LSBUD portal and encouraged people to do a thorough search before every dig.
To drive home the importance of searching we also ran National Safe Digging Week, with energy, water and telecoms companies plus major construction firms getting involved in a programme of activity. As part of this we managed the production of a special, humorous film designed to educate particularly vulnerable groups, such as smaller building firms, farmers and the general public, about the dangers of hitting a pipe or cable that’s buried under the ground.
