When I started experiencing severe health symptoms ten years ago, I would never have imagined myself unable to stand up for long, it was something I had taken for granted my whole life, walking and standing without debilitating symptoms and collapse. A chronic health condition can occur to anyone at any time and can be temporary or unfortunately in my case permanent and worsening over time. We need to evolve to ensure that conditions are improved for all for the future in many aspects of society.
This experience has been testing but it has also inspired me to try and improve conditions for others and over the last 18 months has led me to become Chair of the newly formed HAUC Community working group working closely with Thurrock council, where we are actively looking at Accessibility & Inclusion within Streetworks and part of this is identifying new ways of improving accessibility within our sites through Innovation.
There are many aspects to be considered when a site is set up, accessibility is not always a priority, as long as the site meets with the current legislation it is deemed compliant, there are also sites that are not set up compliantly or they are altered during works and become uncompliant with the requirements and these can be issued with a 2/4 hour defect by the highway authority to rectify.
The mobility constrictions within Streetworks are an ongoing area that currently require improvement to improve accessibility for all. We need to ensure that the future includes innovations that ensure navigation through a site is not psychologically distressing or dangerous for anyone.
We are further restricted by the current infrastructures, experiencing unlevel and narrow footways that are not accessible before Streetworks commence, presenting an issue before we even start.
There have been countless examples that have presented challenges, one example can be a footway that is less than 1 metre in width or exactly 1 metre and a communications pole is in situ within this area in addition to an unlevel footway, therefore unpassable for many and also hazardous, these occurrences are unfortunately experienced regularly by the public.
What is innovation?
Innovation is not limited to technology, it involves challenging the current state of affairs, thinking outside the box and taking controlled risks subsequently creating value . This is an aspect I have learnt a lot more about over the last 18 months, believing that by trying we have the chance to change the future with improved outcomes, pushing our own personal boundaries we can achieve a lot more than what we believe is possible.
It can be a new product or even an idea which covers unmet requirements, innovation starts within every one of us, when we see situations that are not acceptable in any arena, we can try and think of alternative ways to overcome obstacles or share an idea that will help raise awareness of situations, it can come in many shapes and forms. One idea can change the way we work or educate others, it can be a powerful message and we need to keep reminding ourselves that we all have it within us to affect positive change and make a difference.
The Inclusive Streetworks training video that we launched at the HAUC convention is an example of Innovation, this started as an idea to try and educate and bring accessibility to the forefront of the minds of operatives when they are setting up sites and also raising awareness within all aspects of the Streetworks industry, this idea was shared and supported by Shashi approving this to be created by Skewb. Although this started as an idea, it was a great team effort to bring this idea to life, none of this would have been possible without every contribution, all working in unison with the same uniformed vision. The video content was recorded and created in conjunction with Skewb, Forefront, Cadent and Thurrock Council. The video was launched at the HAUC Convention for maximum effect and has successfully been shared across the industry and is readily available on the Innovation section of the HAUC website.
The video has also received powerful feedback from many stating the video had highlighted areas that were not even thought about previously and has been added to Streetworks training within different organisations, shared within team talks and will be used going forward amongst different platforms for many aspects of awareness. All this was achieved from pursuing an idea.
Another innovation that is currently available and we are planning on trialling within Thurrock in conjunction with Forefront Utilities during September 2025 is the Boardwalk created by UIS, a temporary walkway that provides a level surface and also can extend the width of a narrow footway ensuring a passable route. A trial has been arranged to start on the 10th September on a live site within Cadent works.
The pictures provide examples of the options that are readily available and we are hoping that the trial will be successful, but also by trialling we are able to obtain as much feedback as possible to ensure if any further improvements are required, they can be made before this is released, and they are incorporated and re-tested.
Later this year a further innovation we are keen to trial within Thurrock is the “Perimeter assistance”, the original idea of this was instigated by an individual with a chronic health condition and she was also inspired by a pedestrian that was visually impaired, learning that he waited at a bus stop for two hours with his guide dog, he was not aware that the bus stop was closed due to Streetworks and was only finally made aware by a member of the public. Unfortunately, situations like this occur regularly and again we need to drive positive change. The Perimeter Assistance is a box that attaches to a post on a site or can attach anywhere suitable, it does not have to be a Streetworks site, it has a built in camera with a large range of vision, it can then be programmed to speak and warn of any bus stop and footway closures, it can advise of any circumstances. There is also a call button that connects the public to emergency services if required.
We are hoping that by trialling these innovations we can provide the required platform and obtain feedback to improve and evidence to progress these forward, if these are found to ready for release, to be introduced and utilised within the Streetworks industry to improve the conditions within sites for all.
To be part of all of this has only happened by pushing boundaries, thinking outside of the box and challenging the current situations and also behaviours, the journey with behaviours has not been easy and has and still requires constant challenging to what is deemed as the “normal”, not always met with a positive reaction, but by standing up for what we believe in and believing in ourselves we can see positive outcomes and we are able to achieve results, this driving us forward to continue on shaping the future.
By Alexandra Akitici
Alexandra Akitici is Streetworks Manager at Skewb. To speak with her about this topic in more detail, you can connect with her on LinkedIn.
