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Health & Safety

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

Your Health and Electric & Magnetic Fields (EMF)

Some people are concerned about the Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMF) emitted from electricity lines or cables. In basic terms, an EMF is the space within which an electric or magnetic object can influence something else.

For example, a hair-dryer can affect the reception on your TV, if the TV is within range of its EMF. The same applies to all electrical equipment, from MP3 players to high-voltage power lines.

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 statement and safety audits

We will also be creating a Safety Statement for this project. This will describe at a high level how we will manage safety as work progresses. This document will be published here as soon as it is ready, so you can read it.

In addition, before we start any construction task we will carry out an assessment to explore 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 interconnector cable is underground, you may be worried that someone could accidentally hit it whilst digging, e.g. kids digging on the beach.

The precautionary 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.

Of course,  where the cable does come to the surface, security fencing and other safety guards are used. You are probably familiar with these from ESB substations. These are very effective at keeping children, animals and other people away from danger.

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