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Health & Safety

Your health and safety are absolutely fundamental to how we operate. We are absolutely committed to protecting you at all times.

The East West Interconnector is a direct current cable. Static magnetic fields associated with the East West Interconnector are the same as many other sources including the earths naturally occuring magnetic field. To see other examples of magnetic fields download  Every day sources of magnetic fields .

1st July 2011 - A report on the Independent Safety Assessment of the EirGrid East West Interconnector by International consultants KEMA has been published.

The KEMA report was commissioned by Rush Community Council and EirGrid to provide an independent assessment of the safety of the east west Interconnector.

This independent assessment of the safety of the electric cable installation has addressed issues raised by Rush Community Council.

In its conclusions, KEMA found that the East-West HVDC interconnector is obeying all assessed safety limits with a significant margin and that compared to international experience with other HVDC and EHV AC cable circuits, the East-West interconnector is to be regarded as a very safe cable system. See full report, KEMA Independent Assessment

If you have any questions in relation to the report please come into talk to the project team at the Information Centre or contact us on 1890 36 46 56.
 

Update on International Guidelines in relation to static magnetic fields

The exposure limits to static magnetic fields set by the International Commission Non Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) have been revised upwards since EirGrid’s planning application in 2008.

The limit on exposure of the general public has been raised to 400,000 microTesla (μT),  which is 10 times higher than the 1994 guidelines which were in place at the time of EirGrid’s planning application to An Bord Pleanála.

In Ireland the government released a report of the Expert Group on the Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on March 22, 2007 (DCMNR, 2007).  A panel of eight scientists examined a wide range of issues in relation to potential health effects of EMF, including those produced by the electric system. 

The report answers many questions commonly raised by the public in relation to EMF and health.

The panel's conclusions regarding static magnetic fields were similar to those of the World Health Organisation.

The World Health Organisation (Static Electric and Magnetic Fields WHO, 2006 see fact sheet 299) suggested that the wearers of cardiac pacemakers, ferromagnetic implants and other implanted medical and surgical devices should avoid locations where the magnetic field exceeds 500 microtesla (μT), also written as 0.5 millitesla.

Nowhere above the proposed East West Interconnector cable system or in any publicly accessible location nearby would the DC magnetic field rise to this level.

This question was answered at the An Bord Pleanála hearing in relation to the East West Interconnector held in 2009.

Read a full explanation of what an EMF is.

Your concerns

We are confident that you do not need to worry about EMFs as an issue on this project.

Over the past 30 years many scientific studies have been carried out into the effects of EMFs  on human health. This includes such bodies as:

• World Health Organisation (WHO)
• National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) in the UK
• International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

None of these has found any evidence of a significant link between such fields and human illness. The studies have also enabled bodies such as the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and the European Commission to establish recommendations on EMF exposures. These guarantee a high level of health protection.

You can be assured that our network works well within these standards.

Your questions answered

We are committed to continuously reviewing new research to provide answers to your questions.

If you have concerns about this project, we can make a health expert available to you. Please feel free to contact us with your questions.

We will always address your queries at face value. We will investigate them using the best available information and respond on that basis.

Physical safety during this project

To make sure you and your family stay safe during this project, we are following strict guidelines for construction and electrical operations.

Construction safety and your children

The first part of this project is about construction. This includes:

• Digging trenches.
• Using construction equipment, e.g. excavators.

We will ensure that appropriate safety measures are in place to eliminate these risks.

Safety Management

Our contractor has prepared and implemented a Construction Phase Safety Plan which is revised as the project progresses. This plan describes how health, safety and welfare is managed safety as work progresses.
In addition, before we start any construction task we will carry out task specific risk assessments to evaluate what hazards may be present. If any are found, we will then make sure they are controlled before works begins.

Safety for high-voltage electricity

Because the East West Interconnector cable is underground, you may be worried that someone could accidentally hit it whilst digging, e.g. kids digging on the beach.

The safety measures that we have applied mean you don't have to be concerned about this.

Deep and safe trenches

The cable is buried deep enough that it cannot be found easily. Similarly it is made of very tough material and is surrounded by a number of security protectors. That means it cannot be penetrated, except with a heavy cutting device or machinery.

If you have any other concerns about safety on this project, please contact us.