A GAS company needs to install safety measures on one of its exposed pipes to prevent people from climbing on it and injuring themselves.

The 32 metre-long pipe is situated next to a Grade II listed railway bridge in Wareham Common, which means Southern Gas Network (SGN) has had to apply to Purbeck District Council for permission to fit the anti-climbing equipment.

All utility providers are required by the Health and Safety Executive to prevent access to their infrastructure following a tragic incident in 2014 in which an 11-year-old boy died after slipping from an exposed gas pipe in Burnley, Lancashire.

In SGN’s application, planning firm Vector states: “The company is reviewing all its above ground pipes in light of the above case and taking action at many levels. As you can imagine, the company simply has thousands of these exposed pipes and each one is assessed on its own merits.

“However, some do impact upon assets which are listed, or ancient scheduled monuments, and these are the ones which will require working with the necessary authority on.”

SGN is proposing to use anti-climbing measures across the whole length of the pipe to provide both a visual deterrent and a way of physically preventing access to the pipe.

However, Vector says: “While it suits the functional need of preventing access to the pipe, it does perhaps detract from the visual appearance of the listed asset.”

It adds: “Having assessed the risk, SGN considers there is a need for defensive measures to be taken to proactively prevent persons from climbing onto the pipe.

“As the result of a fatal incident in which a person fell from a gas pipe, the subsequent court of inquiry deemed it necessary for utility providers to prevent access to its infrastructure. As such, the H&S Executive are lead authority on this and SGN are pro-actively implementing their requirements and reporting accordingly.”

Warning signs are also proposed alongside the anti-climbing equipment.