Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 23RD FEBRUARY - 1ST MARCH 2018 | 21 chosen because it cures fast and will allow the drainage system to return to service quickly. The chamber forms part of the sur- face water drainage system and is also the minor discharge route for waste condensate water from the station. Dungeness B started generating in 1983, and is operated by EDF Energy. If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, email: paulnewton@fav-house.com Pipe up Chris Wood There is a growing fear among those across the employ- ment sphere that robots will sooner or later take over their jobs. Some people, including luminaries such as Bill Gates and Professor Stephen Hawking, fear things will go further and robots will take over the world if we don't do something about it. Industrial robots have been around for a long time, but now robots are starting to make their mark in construction. However, there is a desperate shortage of human workers with the skills necessary to keep our utilities and construction sectors going. The rise of the robots will undoubtedly have an impact in factories making pre-fabricated houses, for example, but in other ways, technology is likely to make the skills crisis worse. Contrary to general public opinion, the operatives working in trenches, laying cables and making con- nections to substations are not unskilled labourers but qualified technicians, as is the case with their colleagues working elsewhere in the network. But their numbers are dwindling because the work- force is ageing and there has not been enough investment in training. A decline in the number of foreign operatives is exacerbating the problem. As these industries become ever more technical, the need for skilled workers is growing. The idea of people work- ing in trenches with robotic arms or assisted in diagnos- ing electrical faults by AI is exciting, but those people will need to be properly trained to use the technology. Britain's vital supplies and infrastructure are seri- ously threatened by the skills gap, but paradoxically, the ability of technology to alleviate these problems is likely to be hampered by a shortage of trained humans. There have been some welcome initiatives by govern- ment such as Trailblazer apprenticeships, the appren- ticeship levy and investment in artificial intelligence in academia. Meanwhile, in the private sector, we are working with leading employers to develop new kinds of training programmes and strategies to attract young people to engineering, and to equip them with the increasingly technical skills they will need. But despite all this good work, Britain is falling behind. To give just one example, it is clear the gov- ernment will miss its original target for smart meters because there is a shortage of skilled operatives. That is more embarrassing than calamitous. We can live without smart meters, but we cannot survive without energy and water. Much more must be done to train people for the utilities sector of the future." Chris Wood, CEO, Develop Training "The ability of technology to alleviate skills shortages is likely to be hampered by a shortage of trained humans" Britain's vital supplies and infrastructure are seriously threatened by the skills gap Operations & Assets

• Cover